Dream Role
by Jekrox
Summary: Chaos arrives at William McKinley High School... in the form of one Ben Spencer and his brand new blue box. And the worst part - he's certainly nowhere near asleep. Spoilers for DW Series 6, and up to Glee 2x19.
1. Natural Pilot

It had been just another day in the life of just another teenager who lived in just another suburb in just another average Australian city – well, at least that was how it had started.

Ben Spencer had said goodbye to his parents, had a lift from a friend straight to school, and settled into his first class before the trouble had began. Things were going as averagely as expected – so boring. But it was a Wednesday, at least – the day when new Glee was on and he could sink back into the world of show choir and other mayhemic pursuits. (was mayhemic a word? He'd have to it.) Then it hit him – the last episode had been last week. Christmas time, all cheery and happy – midseason break. DOOM! There was nothing exciting left! Doctor Who was gone as well, not to return but for a Christmas special weeks away and then nothing for a while again.

Ben's life was boring just to start, and television was his break. He was sixteen, and nothing really exciting was going on anymore. That was until the sparking began – in his fingers at first. He barely noticed it whilst drumming against his desk, as the lightning turned them purple and bright. He did begin to notice, however, as the sparks started travelling up his arm, and towards his face. He tried to stamp them out – but he'd already gained the attention of his fellow classmates.

"_This is insane!_" he thought, but a sneeze was coming on. His classmates were coming towards him, but there was nothing they could do to help, or catch his attention. He was solely focused on the wheezing noise keeping time with the deep breaths he was pulling in as he sneezed – a very familiar wheezing.

As the TARDIS began to materialize in front of him, Ben kept time and continued to... well... sneeze it into existence. He could feel the final burst coming – the big finale. He sneezed long, and hard, and the TARDIS made it's final groan into existence. On his desk, appearing swathed in purple lightning, was a small Yale Key that had no uncertain purpose.

"Ben?" a friend asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, trying his best to keep calm.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked, excitedly.

"I hope so." He began to walk over to the TARDIS when he saw a firm arm stretch out in front of him.

"Ben Spencer, where do you think you are going, and at the very least without an explanation?"

His teacher, Ms Parks, wasn't letting him go easily. She was surprisingly strong for a lady of her age bracket, and he found he couldn't budge.

"I'm going into that ship, and making sure there's not anyone inside."

He gently lowered her arm and turned the key easily inside the lock. As he stepped inside the TARDIS, he was taken aback.

After having watched Doctor Who for a while, Ben had naturally assumed that he would be okay with the idea of the TARDIS being bigger on the inside – but watching the set from a TV screen wasn't the most accurate portrayal, and as such he was shocked at the sheer size of the console room.

As he turned to announce the emptiness of the TARDIS, the doors shut sharply. He started to wrap on them hard, knocking and whacking.

"Let me out!"

A holographic projection of the Doctor appeared on the mezzanine of the ship. _"Activating Emergency Protocol Seven – escort TARDIS guest to home era. Please do not attempt to interfere with TARDIS systems as this process occurs. Thank you and have a safe trip."_

"I'm in my home era you stupid -" as he was about to finish his rant, the TARDIS started to lurch and the turbulence hit him hard. Ben was splayed on the floor, but managed to run to the console and grab on quickly. He pulled the screen into view.

It read: DESTINATION: UNABLE TO DISPLAY – COURSE MALFUNCTION. PLEASE RESET PLOTTER.

"_Plotter, plotter." _Ben searched the console for the device he sought, the Zig-Zag plotter. He'd seen it before and Amy had used it to stabilize the TARDIS. He gave the plotter a few shakes and pulled the screen to face him again.

This time, it displayed a different message. DESTINATION COURSE PLOTTED. RECALIBRATION IMININENT. WARNING – TIME STREAM CROSSING. PLEASE BRACE YOURSELF FOR IMPACT.

Ben knew what that meant – alternate reality. He had to think it over in his head before considering what he could do to stabilize the TARDIS. "Stabilizers!" he yelled, rushing over to a different part of the console. "The BLUE stabilizers!" He quickly pressed the blue buttons in sequence, settling some of the rumblings shaking the ship.

Running around the console madly, Ben was pressing buttons, flicking switches, turning nobs and working levers like a pro, until the ship started to slow.

"Ease the breaks..." as he said this he slipped his finger over a small switch and brought it down gently. He was aiming for silence at this landing. Discretion was key here – he didn't want anyone knowing he was there. To seal the deal, Ben made his way to the launch lever, and brought it down to a stop. The TARDIS stopped it's shaking, and Ben made his way to the door.

As he walked closer, the TARDIS doors opened suddenly, and the ship shook him out with a lurch, forcing him to do a somersault onto a hard lino floor, as the doors shut behind him. He looked up quickly to see a number of very confused faces looking back at him. He took an inventory check of the stereotypes – the cheerleaders, the goth Asian girl, the kid in the wheelchair, the strong football players, the kid with the Mohawk – it all made sense now. And as their familiar curly haired teacher made his way towards him, Ben Spencer fainted. 


	2. Sick Bay

So here's what happened about five hours ago. Some random guy crashed into the choir room in the middle of rehearsal, and then he fainted. Will covered up for his weird box ship thing by saying it was a prop but Sue's not buying it. Lauren left the Glee club even though they have an invitational performance coming up, so they need another member. Emma got married to Carl so now Will doesn't have a chance with her, and Sue sort of got married to herself even though she's kind of a Grinch. Finn and Rachel are split up now but neither of them are really over the other. So that's what you missed on GLEE.

Ben's eyes were slowly opening. He was on a bed somewhere that was half comfortable, half... he didn't really know. There were three people peering at him from a distance – he could make out face shapes but everything was a bit blurry.

"Hello? Are you awake?" The voice was familiar, but as of yet Ben couldn't place it. He had a nagging feeling that it should have been obvious, but at that point nothing was obvious.

"Hush, William. The sound of your voice might startle him. It's startled me in an annoying way on occasion, much like the entirety of your existence." At that, Ben let out a slight giggle. He could certainly place that voice - Sue Sylvester. He assumed that he'd just fallen asleep in front of an episode of Glee, but he was sure he'd never heard that Sue quote before.

"Seriously Sue, could you just be quiet? This is a hospital, after all. And we're sitting at the bed of someone who's passed out." Things were feeling a bit clearer, and Ben was starting to understand what Emma was saying.

"Where…" he started to try to speak but his body wasn't catching up to his mind fast enough.

"Easy," Will told him. "You've had a tumble, you've been in our sick bay for about five hours or so."

"Yes. A tumble that, so far, nobody has been able to coherently explain."

"Sue, we've been over this. He was running into my classroom, he stumbled and fell."

"This doesn't explain how he got into the school without a visitors pass, or what that great big blue box is that's been miraculously delivered to the choir room."

"The box is a prop for one of our numbers."

"One of your numbers! How could you possibly use a police box from the sixties in one of your numbers?"

At this point Ben sensed a pause in Will's reply. This accusation caught him off guard.

"She does have a point, Will." Now Emma was seeing clarity in Sue's argument - and rightfully so. Everything Will was saying was lies. So, Ben decided to pick up the rolling ball.

"The Glee Club's doing a Police number, hence the Police Box, Miss Sylvester."

The three adults turned to Ben with shocked looks on his faces, like he'd just said something in Chinese. Particularly Will, who knew he'd been lying through his teeth.

"What would you be doing knowing about the Glee Club's numbers - you don't go here." Sue was determined to fish out something odd.

"Not yet. I'm the Glee club's external adviser. I've been helping Mr. Schuester with song selection since Holly Holiday was the club's substitute. He felt things needed modernising, so I was happy to help. I've decided to transfer here, and I was really excited, so I rushed in and stumbled at the choir room door. That's all. Any more questions?"

Sue simply looked at him. "None, coma breath. Now get out of this bed. If you're able bodied enough to tell me all about your advisory adventures then you can certainly free up this bed for ENROLLED students." She stood and left.

Emma looked at him sympathetically. "She's always like that."

"So I've heard. Would you mind giving Mr. Schuester and me a minute?"

"Sure. Where did you go before this?" She too, had her suspicions. Ben wasn't unwilling to allay them.

"It's a private school in Australia. You wouldn't know it."

"You've been advising the Glee Club from Australia?"

"Skype."

"Right. Well, I hope you like it here." With that, she left the import alone with Will. From the look on his face, Ben could tell that this wasn't going to be easy.

"I don't know who you are, or what you're doing here. So you could start by maybe giving me your name."

"Ben Spencer."

"That's it – no more explanation?"

"It's all really complicated and I don't quite understand it myself."

"What's 'it', exactly?"

"How I got here – I know that's what you'd like some clarity on."

"I think I have the right to that – my Glee Club just covered up for you big time."

"Well, I don't think I'll be able to repay you very quickly. I have to get back to where I came from, or at least try."

"You just told Emma and Sue that you would be transferring here. From Australia."

"You do have a point there. But I don't really want to be messing around with the fabric of things. Causal nexuses have a way of coming back to haunt you if you try to interfere too much."

"What the hell was that? Causal nexus?"

"I..." he trailed off. Where did that come from? "I'm not entirely sure. Now that I come to think of it, that whole flight was a bit of a fluke, too. I should never have been able to pilot myself here, but I did. And, if I'm right as to where here is, then I shouldn't have been able to do anything of the sort."

"Listen, we've done you a favour. And, I can't let you leave before you explain this to my kids."

"I don't even think I can explain it to myself – and if I make waves in the Glee club, then there's no way I'll be able to avoid interference in the time stream. That club is important."

"I know that, alright. Please, just give us a hand. One of our members has just left, and we need a twelfth. Our invitational is coming up."

"So you're asking me, the random who fell out of a box in your choir room in the middle of rehearsal to join? Wait, who left?"

"A girl called –"

"Ah, so it was Lauren Zizes."

"How did you know that?"

Ben felt a bit stupid for saying her name, but he knew it had to be her. "She was only ever there because Kurt wasn't. If anyone was going to leave, it was going to be her. She was the only girl on the verge of leaving anyway."

"You know too much about our club. Are you ready to get up?"

Ben felt for his ribs, and bones. Nothing felt sore. "I think so."

"Then it's time for you to get to the choir room. You have some explaining to do."


	3. Pep Talk

Will escorted Ben to the choir room. Along the way, he was amazed to see the sets he'd seen on TV made reality in this world. Everything seemed so surreal - like it was really out of place.

"Here we are. The choir room."

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I think I'd faint if I saw them all again."

Will gave him a puzzled look. "You really do say the oddest things, you know that?"

Ben smiled as Will opened the door to the choir room.

The once animated voices in the room went completely silent when Ben entered the room. You could have dropped a pin and heard it. He could sense that they were all very uncomfortable with his presence.

Brittany raised her hand, and Ben gave a nod.

"Excuse me Mister, but I think the wheels fell off your car."

The people in the room looked at her for a moment before shaking their heads. Ben giggled.

"No, they're there alright. Just on the inside. The compression technology allows my… blue box over there to pass through the Time Vortex and emerge on another end with the effect of appearing and disappearing on the opposing sides. It sort of builds a bridge between one place and another very quickly."

Everyone in the room looked at him, stunned.

"So, you're like, from the future? What with all that tech and stuff…" Finn was the first to pipe up.

"Who picked time traveller in the pool?" Artie asked, and this time it was Ben's turn to look stunned.

"I had alien from Venus," Mercedes said. "You had Venus?" asked Tina. "Mike and I pulled Mercury."

"I had time traveller, actually. It seemed like the most logical option," said Rachel, earning some groans.

"Which one of you picked 'regular guy caught up in a big mess'?" Ben asked, starting to think that joining Glee wasn't the best idea after all.

They all just looked at him ashamed.

"No takers?" he was starting to get angry. "Do you wanna know something? When Mr. Schuester told me that he thought I should join Glee, I told him that I couldn't because it would just have too big an effect on you guys. That I could really shake the boat. But, when he told me that you needed a twelfth member, I thought that there was no place that I'd rather be. You guys are at the bottom of the food chain at this school, and I thought you might have covered for me because I was alone too. I'm a bit of an outcast, a misfit - so I thought that you guys would get me. Turns out you don't. You can find some other twelfth member, 'cause it sure isn't going to be me." Ben stalked towards the TARDIS, ready to open the door.

"Wait!" Sam called, and Ben turned.

"Save it Sam. I'm going and nothing's stopping me." Sam sat back down, and turned to Quinn. "How does he know my name?"

Ben walked into the TARDIS, a tear running down his left cheek. Some family they'd turned out to be. He was going to have to navigate his way home safely, but he had no idea how to do it.

Walking over to the console, Ben pulled the screen towards him. It read: TARDIS PARKED. PURPOSE UNFULFILLED - COURSE UNABLE TO CONTINUE.

He slammed a hand down hard onto the console. This was not how he'd expected things to turn out. Just as he was sitting down, about to let the anguish he felt swallow him in tears, he heard the doors to the TARDIS open.

Finn walked in, confidently, without noticing the warped interior dimensions.

"Hi," he said, stretching out a hand. "Finn Hudson. You?"

"Ben Spencer." he returned the handshake. "Why did you follow me?"

"Well, I had my doubts. Usually going into someone's time machine whose name you don't even know isn't the best idea."

"You'd be surprised. So I guess this is where you beg me to come back and join glee?"

Finn smiled. "Something like that. You see, I have a step-brother named Kurt. He used to go here but he transferred just before Sectionals."

"I know. He's at Dalton Academy now."

Finn looked surprised. "Anyway, he left this club down a member because I didn't have his back. I let him down as a brother. And a friend. So, I promised myself that if I was ever in a situation like that again, I'd never let someone be victimized that way. It's just wrong."

Ben was smiling, and the tears ran down his eyes a bit faster. "You're really sweet, you know that?" Finn blushed.

"Is there any chance you might consider going back out there? I think you might be pleasantly surprised."

"Sure. It's not like I really have anywhere else to go. My ship won't let me leave." He held out a hand and Finn hoisted him off of the chair upwards. "Thanks," he said, and they made their way to the door.

"Wait, surprised?"


	4. One Step at a Time

Ben opened the TARDIS doors and stepped out into the choir room. He noticed that the glee club were waiting in a formation. "Ah," he said knowingly. "When life gets you down, sing about it. Am I right?"

Will nodded to the kids, and they suddenly came to life. Finn had already placed himself to join them. Rachel began to take some noisy steps forward. "No way..." Ben breathed, as it was pretty obvious what was about to happen.

"_Hurry up, and wait,_

_So close, but so far away,_

_Everything that you've always dreamed of,_

_Close enough for you to taste,_

_But you just can't touch!"_

Ben grinned, listening to the song.

"_We live and we learn, to take_

_One step at a time_

_There's no need to rush,_

_It's like learning to fly,_

_Or falling in love."_

At this point, Ben caught Rachel sneaking a sly glance Finn's way.

"_It's gonna happen when it's_

_Supposed to happen and we_

_Find the reasons why,_

_One step at a time."_

At this point Ben had picked up the pace and tempo, and shared the moment with Mercedes.

"_When you can't wait any longer,_

_But there's no end in sight_

_When you need to find the strength_

_It's your faith that makes you stronger_

_The only way to get there_

_Is One step at a time."_

They matched the hold of the last note, and all just stood there appreciating each other for a moment. Ben grinned. "Do I still need to audition?"

That earned some laughs from the club. "I think we can definitely agree that we've found our twelfth member in Ben Spencer!" Will said, earning some whoops from the team.

"I'm happy to join you guys. I just hope that something like what just happened won't happen again." At this point everyone looked a little sheepish. "How do I know that you guys didn't just do that because you thought it would reel me in? I can't tell if you accept me, or if you just need me. I don't know what's really going on behind the scenes here. I've not got some directorial featurette on the YouTube channel telling me what the point of me being part of glee club is, and I don't really see any of your perspectives like I would. This is all so different... but it could be good."

"Are you going to join or not? Seriously, if you weren't a guy I could swear that you were a yoyo," Quinn said.

"You're not really helping, Quinn."

"And that's another thing – how do you know all of our names, and all about what's happened here? You spoke about Holly Holiday in there and I've no idea how you know her." Will said suspiciously.

Ben blushed. "I just now stuff, okay? It's complicated."

"We've got time," he countered.

"I've already interfered too much... this would just be..." he paused for thought. "The tip of the iceberg. If you knew how I know all this stuff, it would probably just tear everything apart. For now, you need to be content with trusting me, and I'll stay here with you."

The bell rang loudly, and everyone filed out of the choir room, except Will, Ben and Finn. At this point, Finn was staring at the TARDIS. He stepped towards it and touched the wood, a shocked expression on his face.

"You seriously just noticed?" Ben asked, amusedly.

"It's... it's..."

"Yes, Finn. It's bigger on the inside. Not really such a big deal."  
He turned to face Ben.

"Not really such a big deal?"

"Okay, so maybe it surprised me too a little when I first stepped in, but it only took me a bit to get used to it. Once you have to fly it somewhere – that's when it's like... Home."

"Finn, I think you'd better get to class. Ben and I need to see Principal Figgins."

Ben looked a bit confused. "Principal Figgins? Why?"

"You haven't enrolled at this school yet, Ben."

"Right!" he led the charge straight out of the choir room. Will waited patiently. He then saw Ben poke his face back in. "Principal Figgins' office is where..?"

Will walked out of the room to join him.

"So, Mr. Spencer, you would like to join our school."

"Yes, Principal Figgins. I've been considering it for a while, but I only just got the means to fly here and join."

"Right. Well, I'd be happy to enrol you."  
"That's fantastic!" Ben said, cutting off the principal.

"If..." That got Ben's attention. He sat quietly.

"If...?"

"If I had your parents' signatures on this enrolment document. How do I know that you haven't snuck away from home and run to America, and your parents know nothing about it?"

He pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"It's not like I can call them." As a show of proof, he pointed the screen towards the principal. "No service."

"Well, we can fax the document to them. Do you know your home fax number?"

"Not in the slightest. It starts with a nine, I think."

"You can try calling them from my phone."

"I guess I could, but I'm not sure how it would work."

He dialled the number in, and awaited a response. A Scottish voice replied from the other end. "Hello, TARDIS phone, who may I ask is calling?"

Ben fainted with shock again.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Amy put down the phone.

"Who was it?" asked the Doctor, from the other side of the console.

"Just dead noise. Nobody was there. Well, I did hear a thud."

"Do you think it might have been a wrong number?" Rory asked, absently.

"Highly unlikely," the Doctor said. "We should probably check it out."


	5. Brainstorming

Ben opened his eyes gingerly. He felt the familiar bed beneath him - the sick bay bed. He'd fainted again.

"You really shouldn't make a habit of this, visitor," came Sue's voice from the side of the bed. "This school needs it's medical facilities - we don't really have anything else that's better. Excluding my Cheerios, of course."

He started to stretch and emerge from the sick bay bed.

"Not so fast - we need to talk."

"What about?"

"You're hiding something. You and that glee club and Schuester. I intend to find out what it is, so I figure I might save myself the trouble of sneaking around and just ask you now - what's really going on?"

"Sue, you're honestly seeing things that aren't there. There's no conspiracy going on, nothing out of the ordinary."

"So you say, but I don't see you enrolled. You passed out before you could contact your parents."

"And who, may I ask, told you that?"

"The nurse. She's a huge gossip. Anyway, you're going to need to be enrolled to join Schuester's glee club - I know you auditioned or whatever those spastic primates do to initiate a new member to their coven. I could hear the sappy pop music from my office down the hall. By the way - you do know that, at this school, Glee Club's not praised very highly."

Ben sighed. "I know. I think I might be able to change that."

Sue leaned in close. "Listen here, immigrant. If you have so much as the intention of messing with the flow of this school, I will rip you in half. Things happen here the way they happen here, and you have no right doing anything to change that. At least this way, those kids know where they stand in this world - living in Lima, Ohio isn't really a fantastic springboard for a big, bright future."

"Certainly not with that attitude - those kids have real talent, and you putting them down like that is definitely not good for their self esteem."

"None of those kids take it personally - I put everyone down."

"Why is that, Sue? What could have made you so completely negative about everyone?"

"I lived a life with a handi-capable sister, and watching people bring her down really brought me down. I guess I've just gone a bit down with it."

"You shouldn't let other people get you down, Sue. You need to do what you think is right, don't do what you see, do what you are. It's like don't do you, find the real Sue, or something mushy like that."

"Don't try being some kind of psychoanalyst – nobody's going to change what happened to me and how I grew up. I think Schuester's club needs something that you've got – some kind of practicals. We've needed to do some kind of mix up here at this school – I'll send one of these pathetic kids to Australia, and enrol you as an exchange."

"You would do that? Why?"

"I don't really know, I just think that if you're going to keep fainting here, then they might as well have a reason to admit you to our sick bay facilities."

She stood and left a very confused teen in her wake.

Ben walked briskly into the choir room. Everyone turned to look at him. "Hi," he said wearily.

"Are you okay?" asked Artie. "You seem to have this thing about fainting."

"Only when I'm surprised about something impossible," Ben replied tiredly.

"Is everything here impossible?" Santana asked, with a grin on her face. Ben just gave her a slight glare.

"Well, for one thing, I'm enrolled on exchange."

"Who are they exchanging for you?" asked Will.

"I have no idea. But whomever they are, they get one trip to Australia courtesy of one Sue Sylvester."

"Sue got you enrolled here? Why?"

"She said something about practicals. Whatever she meant, we're a twelve now." He took a seat in the room with everyone else.

"Right, well, with that done, I think we should work on what we're going to be performing for the Invitational we have coming up."

"I think that we should try to showcase some of the talent in the classic Broadway epic, 'The Phantom of the Opera'," Rachel said, and Puck rolled his eyes dramatically.

"How much does a muzzle cost?" he mumbled to nobody in particular, and Rachel glared at him.

"Thanks, Rachel, but I was thinking that since we've focused on some real classics that I'm used to for most of our performances, that we leave this open to do a number that has a more relatable tune to it," Will suggested.

"Can I just say, I will leave this club if one of the suggestions has anything to do with Justin Bieber," said Sam. "He totally copied this," and he dramatically gestured to his haircut.

"What about some Kylie Minogue? She put out a new album recently. It was great," Ben said.

Brittany looked at him for a second. "Isn't she like a dirty movie star?"

"I would love to whip my hair back and forth for this one," Mercedes said.

"Seriously? That song is like messed up," Finn said, and Ben smiled at him. "Completely bogus," he agreed.

"What about some Bruno Mars?" Quinn asked. "We did 'Marry You' so well at the wedding, and 'Just the Way You Are'."

"That was actually really good," Ben observed, before he could stop himself. Everyone turned to look. "Why did you stop bickering? Songs! Songs! Come on! How about some Black Eyed Peas?"

"I don't think their music can really be covered by a show choir. It's a bit too technical," Tina said. "Does anyone even know what type of song we're meant to be singing?"

"Something with a nice beat, something memorable and catchy. Something people will really grab onto," Will said. "I think we should also have some kind of intricate dancing going on in the background. Think about it for this week, you guys should go off and have some lunch."

Everyone filed out of the room, and Ben made his way towards his TARDIS.

"Aren't you going to go for lunch with everyone else?" Will asked.

"In a minute. I need to find the wardrobe and get changed, and then find the library to get some of the books I'll need for class."

"Hey, just be careful. And don't forget – class starts in ten minutes."


	6. Delegation

The bell rang loudly as the final period began for the day. Ben filed into his new English class, and introduced himself to the teacher. He looked around, and Finn beckoned him towards him to sit next to him.

"Hey," Ben said, smiling. "What are we studying at the moment?"

"We're doing 1984, by George Orwell."

"Oh, I read that ages ago. Weird book, odd ending."

"Yeah, I've sort of not had time to finish it. Or, really start it."

"Right."

"Where are you going to live now that you're here?"

"Probably bunk up in the TARDIS. There's bound to be a bedroom if there's a wardrobe, library, swimming pool and music room."

"How does all of that fit in there?"

"I guess you could call it 'dimensionally transcendental." Ben noticed the complete confusion on Finn's face. " I'm not exactly sure how it works; I just stay thankful that it does."

As Ben settled into his new class, Will began a Spanish lesson.

"So, can anyone tell me what we learned last lesson?" He received a myriad of blank looks. A knock came at the door. A woman was there. She was tallish, blonde with a very imposing air about her.

"Hi, can I help you?" he asked.

"You just might. I need to have a talk with a student here, and I was told that you would know where to find him."

"Who would you be looking for, Ms..."

"Gallifrey. Romana Gallifrey. But you can call me Romana. And I'm looking for a boy called Ben Spencer."

"What do you need with Ben Spencer? He just transferred here today."

"We have some important business to attend to."

"Business? He's sixteen. Is he in some kind of trouble?"

"Hopefully something he can explain. Particularly how he ended up with his current mode of transport."

"Look, I don't know Ben really well, but as I see it he's a good kid. If he's done anything wrong, I'm sure it wasn't intentional."

"Be that as it may, he's arrived here on an apparently unnavigable path."

"He said that the fact that he piloted here should have been impossible."

"How much has he told you about what's really going on?"

"Nothing, really. Just snippets here and there – he said something about a causal nexus, and how he shouldn't tell us anything or he might cause problems for us."

"At least he was thinking clearly enough to try to protect all of you here. But I do need to speak to him very urgently."

Will poked his head back into the room. "I shouldn't really leave these kids unsupervised. They're already losing focus as is – it's a bad idea for me to turn my back."

"I'm sure my companion could stay to assist you."

An auburn haired woman wrapped in a large shawl stepped out from behind her. "Romana, I hardly think that is fair –"

"Leela, you are needed here. Mr. Schuester will take me to Mr. Spencer and then we'll come straight back. Relax. I'm sure you've handled worse than a class of teenagers."

"Fine. But be quick." Leela walked into the classroom. "Right, students. Whilst Mr. Schuester is helping my friend, you must wait patiently. They will return soon. For the moment, I am happy for you to talk between yourselves."

"Thank you, Miss Leela. We should be back soon," Will told her. The pair left.

English class was over, and Ben was struggling to explain the story of 1984 to Finn. "So, the reason that Big Brother was really bad was that he had complete authority over absolutely everyone and everything in Oceania – he saw everything and there was no way to hide."

"But why did he do something like that?"

"The back story of Oceania is never given, but it's... look!"

"What?"

He ducked behind Finn. "I need to get to the choir room right now," he whispered.

"Why?"Finn asked, completely puzzled at his behaviour.

"I have to get to the..." he trailed off. "That's the first place they're going to look for me."

"Who is?"

"Mr. Schuester and the Lady President of the Time Lords on Gallifrey!"

"Okay, now I just know you're insane."

"Listen, I need to get to the choir room, pack a bag, and then..." he paused. "Damn. Okay, that's as far as I got. Any ideas?"

"Is this your way of asking me for a place to stay?"

He looked nervously around the corner, to see Romana and Will inching closer. "That's exactly completely perfect. Meet me outside in ten minutes?"

"Sure," Finn replied, suddenly nervous.

"Here they come! Stall for me!"

Ben made a run for the choir room, making sure he wasn't seen. As Romana and Will approached, Finn stepped in front of them.

"Hi, Mr. Schue. Are you getting home now?"

"Yeah, Finn. Hey, you wouldn't know where Ben is, would you? We've been looking for him."

"Well, I saw him in the auditorium, he was practising for some kind of number he wanted to show, but I started on my way home. It's getting a bit late."

"Well, we'll check there. Thanks for the tip," said Will. Romana stared at Finn intently. He felt as though she was almost looking into his soul.

"Well, is there anything else I can help you with?" he asked her.

"No, I believe that you've given me all the information I need. Thank you." They walked away.

Finn made his way to the parking lot, and found Ben waiting at his car with a duffel bag. "You're sure it's okay for me to be staying with you?"

"It's fine. Hey, you can meet my step-brother, Kurt. He's pretty cool. I'm sure he'd be happy to meet you."

"What do you mean by that?" Ben asked, with an eyebrow raised. Finn shifted uncomfortably. "You shouldn't make assumptions, Finn. It's unhealthy, and I believe there's a saying about it."

"Let's just go, okay?"

They got into the car and Finn drove them away.


	7. Accomodation

Finn pulled up in his driveway. "It might be a little cramped. We have to share a room as is, but I'm sure you'll fit."

They walked up to the door, and Finn slotted his key in. "Finn? Is that you and your friend?" they heard his mother call from inside. "Yeah Mom, we're here!"

She walked to the front door as Finn opened it. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Carole."

"Ben. Sorry to impose like this, my accommodation plans sort of fell through."

"That's okay. My husband Burt is still at work, but Finn's brother is in their bedroom. I'm sure he'd like to meet you."

"Thanks," Ben replied, and Finn walked off. "Guess I'd better just follow him!" he said, and did. "Why does everyone just assume..." he wondered, mumbling. Finn opened the door to his bedroom and led Ben inside.

"Hey Kurt, this is Ben. He's going to be staying with us tonight." Kurt looked up from the magazine he was reading. He gave Ben a smile that didn't convey much pleasure.

"Nice to meet you," he said. "You can take the mattress. Finn will pull it out from under the bed."

"I guess I will then," Finn said. Ben was puzzled – the two looked like droning automatons in their routine. Nothing was elaborate, or interesting. He watched Finn pull the mattress from the bed.

"Could you point me to the bathroom? I sort of need to freshen up." Kurt, without looking up, simply pointed to a door at the end of the room. "Right then," he said, and walked into the room.

After dinner, the three boys retired to the bedroom. "Can I take the bathroom first?" asked Kurt. Finn and Ben nodded, and sat on their beds. Ben began to take things out of his duffle bag. Slowly, he removed masses of hulking technological equipment, and then neatly placed clothing and toiletries on the floor. He pulled out his phone, and placed it on the bed.

"What do you need all that equipment for?"

"When assembled, it's a very low space, low tech, high efficiency tracking deflector. I can't have the Presidential TARDIS landing in your room, now can I?" Finn just nodded. Something was off – Ben could tell. "You okay?"

"Yeah... I don't know. Every time I get home, I just – something feels wrong."

"Like school gives you some kind of kick?" Ben sat next to him on the bed, at a comfortable distance.

"Yeah." Finn started to perk up. "I think I'm feeling a bit better." Ben noticed him take a very deliberate sniffle. "Do you smell that?" he asked. Before Ben could answer, he heard a noise from his bed – his phone! The ringtone was still what it had been before – Last Christmas, with Rachel and Finn singing! He hurried to answer it, but it stopped ringing. The display read – Missed Call – Blocked. Great, he'd missed it. And revealed that he had Rachel and Finn singing on his phone.

Finn, however, didn't seem to notice – he didn't seem to be doing anything. He was just staring straight ahead. Ben, however, didn't notice that, either. "Well, you know, school can be great, but it can get really challenging. When I would get home from school back home, sometimes I would just feel so drained, that my back was stiff, and my hands were tired, and I just need a good hug, you know? But I got through it..." He turned to look Finn in the eyes. "Finn? Are you okay?"

"Need a good hug... stiff back... challenging..." He was simply mindlessly repeating what Ben had said, only staggered. Ben waved a hand in front of his face. "Okay, something's certainly wrong with you."

At that point, Kurt emerged from the bathroom. "Is everything okay in here? What's going on?" He looked at Finn and Ben on the bed. "What are you two doing?"

"Umm... I think there's something wrong with your brother," Ben said, looking up to face him. "He's just sort of... mindlessly staring. He's not talking back to what I'm saying – well, he is, but he's catching glimpses and most of it's not getting through. He's not responding, just repeating." Ben was beginning to speak quicker and quicker. "He looks like he's in some kind of trance but I've no idea what would induce a state like that. He's totally just"

"Stop!" Kurt interrupted. "Calm down, it's going to be okay," he said. "Now, tell me, what happened."

"Well, we were talking about how Finn was kind of feeling a bit down, and then he said he was feeling better – after I sat next to him on the bed. And then he said he smelled something, and then my phone rang, so I went to get it, and when I got back to the bed I kept talking, but I realised that he wasn't showing any signs of being in a conversation. He was looking listless. So I went and waved my hand in front of his face but he totally didn't respond."

"Do you think it might have been something he smelled?"

"Whatever it was hasn't affected me. But I doubt that a state like this could be induced by some kind of narcotic."

"Well, what's your ringtone?"

"My ringtone?"

"That's the only other thing that happened – your phone rang. Play the ringtone." Ben navigated to the settings, and suddenly Last Christmas rang out from his phone. Finn began to giggle, but slowly again retained the state of non-responsivity he'd been displaying earlier.

"Well, he responded to it," Ben said, but Kurt was simply looking at him.

"How do you have Finn and Rachel singing as your ringtone?"

"It's complicated. Now, we can establish that whatever's happened could be connected to the ringtone..." he trailed off. "Let's try something else." Once again, he looked on his phone, and found a clip of Rachel singing Gives You Hell. Once again, Finn started to smile, and his foot started to tap. "It's not the ringtone – its Rachel singing. That's what's put him in this state."

"So how do we reverse it?" Kurt asked, thoughtfully.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that if" he was interrupted when a purple jolt ran through him as he tapped Finn on the cheek. Suddenly, Finn sprang to life.

"Oh, Kurt, you're done with the bathroom. Mind if I go next?" Finn asked, and walked off without waiting for a reply, leaving Kurt and Ben stunned in his wake.

Ben turned to Kurt slowly. "I think I have an idea."


	8. I Am Not Wearing That

Ben walked into glee the next morning. He could sense the tension in the air.

"What's up, Ben? Why did you want us all to come in early this morning?" Will asked. "And what are in those bags?" Ben was carrying large shopping bags.

"I borrowed them from Kurt. I've got some costume-y prop things for our performance!" He smiled brightly.

"Hey Mr. Schue, who was that tall blonde chick you were with yesterday?" Santana asked, with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Will looked confused.

"But Mr. Schue, I saw you with her too. I even spoke to you. You were looking for Ben, remember?" Finn said.

"No, not really."

"Mr. Schuester, are you feeling alright? I definitely saw you with her too," Ben asked.

"Hey, where's Rachel?" Mercedes asked.

"Oh, I must have told her the wrong time. Silly me!" Ben said, absently.

"What aren't you telling us? There's no way you could tell twelve people the right time but stuff up with one." Finn said, suspicious.

"Nothing. But you're going to have to wear these bracelets to break them in before the performance."

"We don't even know what song we're doing yet, and you've already picked out our accessories?" Artie asked, confused.

"Just wear them, okay? It's important." Ben looked a bit of a mixture of desperation and frustration. From his shopping bags, he pulled out some bracelets. They were wide grey bands with a small clasp at one end and a purple stone in the middle.

"Yeah, no thanks," said Puck. "I think I'd get killed if I wore this in public."

"And since when has anyone in Glee Club cared about what people in public think?" Ben asked.

"Since the day I was born," replied Puck, obviously not amused.

"Look guys, you just need to wear them, okay?" Nobody was very eager. "If I told you the truth, if I told you why, there's a guarantee you'd not believe me in the slightest. And I can't take that risk. This is really important." Ben was looking very serious. Still, nobody moved.

"Why don't you just explain, and we might surprise you," said Sam.

"Doubtful." Ben said, nonplussed. "Give us a try," said Sam. "Don't write us off before you've even explained."

"Fine," said Ben. He walked to the doors, and shut them. He checked all the windows, made sure that everything was locked and sealed, and then returned to his place at the front of the choir room.

"Why the need for so much secrecy, dude?" asked Finn.

Artie turned to Mercedes. "This should be good," he whispered.

"Our dimension is comprised of different types of energies. Different types of matter. Some combined in tight bands, some in looser ones. But, at its lowest level, energy. Energy fields. Now, there are, put simply, good types of energy, and bad types. There are two prime examples of this – psyonic energy, and psytronic energy. Sure, the names sound similar, but they're wildly different. Psyonic energies are... let's call them positively charged. They fulfil purposes like the defragmentation of fragmented matter, or healing in some cases. They can create different matter and solids or gases.

"And then there's psytronic energy. Usually it's used to dissipate things. Sometimes even, to kill. Now, these energies have merging middles. Simpler skills, like teleportation, matter creation – they're shared by both energies. That brings us to the point – why this is relevant.

"I don't know how I got it, but two days ago I was able to create that TARDIS using psyonic energies and get here. Then, yesterday, I noticed something strange to do with psytronic energy – and it came from Rachel."

"When was this?" Finn asked. "I was with you all day."

"Well, you sort of pointed it out to me. When you heard Rachel singing on my phone, you fell right for it. Your mind blanked – you turned into a statue. It wasn't until I gave you a jolt of psyonic energy that you snapped out of it."

"I don't remember this at all."

"Don't you find it odd that one moment my phone's ringing, the next Kurt and I are staring at you like you're an alien?" A look of understanding appeared on Finn's face, briefly.

"So what are you saying? That Rachel's going to use her singing to make us all into zombies?" Artie asked.

"No. I'm pretty sure she could use it to influence you as well. Place suggestions – if she infected you with psytronic energy with her bio-signature on it, it could permanently make you under her influence."

"This is completely ridiculous," said Quinn. "How would these bracelets protect us from that?"

"They're built from technology that I was going to use to cloak myself from the Presidential delegation that had arrived. The one that Mr. Schue was giving a tour to. The orb holds a psyonic charge. Once the clasp is buckled, the orb releases a harmless, constant charge of psyonic energy capable of holding off any psytronics."

"That woman was from the President's office? What does she even do there?" Brittany asked.

"She's not from the President's office, she is the president. She's Lady President Romanadvoratrelundar, President of the High Council of Time Lords on Gallifrey." Everyone squinted, confused.

"Look, I'm not asking you to believe me. I'm asking you to let me try my best to protect you. Even if I had turned out to be lying, or making this up, what harm would be done if you just wore the bracelets anyway?"

Nobody rushed to do up their clasps.

"How about a demonstration? If I play some of the music, and nothing happens, then I'm lying. If something does, then you wear the bracelets, no fuss. Those of you who believe me, can do up those clasps and you're safe."

He looked around. Only Sam hit the clasp together. "Sam!" Quinn said. "Take that off."

"No, Quinn. He sounds – serious. That's all just too plausible for me to ignore."

"This isn't one of your dumb sci-fi movies, Sam. This is real life, and you are going to embarrass me wearing that."

"I actually think it looks kinda cool. Like some kind of tank armband or something. Like the rusted metal is... worn. Battle scarred."

"Anyone else?" Ben ventured. He gave Finn a fleeting glance, but his clasp was staying undone. "Fine. Your choice." With that, he navigated to the settings on his phone, and started his ringtone.

And then the room froze.


	9. Something Dramatic Like A Kiss of Death

Sam looked around – everything was really surreal. Nobody was moving, just staring ahead. "Okay, this is pretty creepy."

"But it just proves my point, Sam. She's done something, she's capable of doing worse."

"So, what now?" Sam asked. He was waving his hand in front of Quinn's face, concerned. It looked like cogs were turning in Ben's brain. He was thinking, figuring – it looked like he was planning. Then he just grinned. "Well, we let them go. I thought that might have been a bit obvious."

Sam just shrugged. Ben certainly wasn't obvious – but whether he'd ever realised that or not was an entirely different ball game.

"Ben Spencer. I think words are necessary."

They both wheeled around to see Rachel in the doorway.

"Like why you left me out of this meeting. Why the people in this club are staring ahead like zombies. Why you're even here."

"Sorry, Rachel, but I don't have any time for chit-chat. I'm kind of busy." Sam just looked at him, shocked. Rachel was ready for a full on brawl, and Ben had just turned away, clasping bracelets. He was humming some Lady Antebellum tune – it was familiar from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place it.

"_It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now..."_

Rachel started singing something completely different – but her voice was emerging spiked, and malicious. "_Maybe things would have been different if Kurt hadn't left. Kurt had this amazing way of making everything just look ridiculous – and sane, at the same time."_ Sam sighed.

Suddenly, movement registered on Sam's radar – but Ben seemed to have missed it entirely. Puck had stood up and was moving towards Rachel, who was gesturing suggestively with her fingers. _Come to me,_ her hands were saying. _Come to me and everything's going to be okay._ Sam would have fallen for it, but his bracelet was already glowing, and working perfectly.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Sam asked, but he knew already. Rachel and Puck were standing face to face, and they were about to kiss. He made a dive for the bracelet, but as he clasped it, he knew it was too late. They had kissed big time. Puck recoiled back, confused –like he'd just woken up standing somewhere far far away from where he'd left himself.

"What the hell?" and then it started. Sam watched black lines and cracks come down from Puck's mouth. "Enjoy yourselves," Rachel said, as she slinked away grinning. "Ben!" Sam shouted, and Ben turned around, having just finished clasping the rest of the bracelets. "Are you going to help?"

"My god! What happened?" He raced down to Puck's side. "She... kissed... me...?" Sam nodded to affirm Puck's drained question, and Ben started to look worried. "Just breathe Puck. Now, we know how Rachel has delivered the psytronics... unfortunately that much is just plain to see. The fact that she's done it this way was definitely deliberately to piss me off."

"I have a feeling this isn't about you."

"It's completely about me, Sam. In order to counteract the psytronics, I have to deliver psyonics. In the same way that she delivered the psytronics." By then, most of the glee club just stared at him confused.

"Does that mean that you have to make out with Puck?" Brittany asked sheepishly. Everyone turned to her, looking surprised. "What?"

"Yes, thank you for being the intelligent member of this club. Now, if you wouldn't mind turning around please" Santana cut him off.

"You're actually going to do this."

"Yes."

"Like actually."

"Like yes."

"Awesome."

"Turn around before I throw something at you." She did so obligingly.

The entire experience lasted for about ten to fifteen seconds. "You can all turn around now," Ben said, without a hint of embarrassment, although that was exactly what he felt.

Puck was looking a little dreamy and spaced out. "_I wonder where he learned to kiss like that. Wait... did I just kiss a dude?"_

"Aha," said Ben.

"Aha what?" Finn asked, with a thoroughly confused look on his face.

"Right, sorry forgot."

"Forgot what?"

"You really need to find some way of being less cryptic," said Sam.

"You'd just love that, wouldn't you?"

"_That's sort of why I said it, duh!"_ Sam thought. And then the strangest thing happened.

"Well don't expect me not to try and play coy off a really obvious question!" It was like, a direct response to his thoughts.

"_I really hope I didn't say that out loud. It wasn't very polite."_

"Well you might as well have," said Ben, turning towards the door, and walking out of practise. "I have something that I really need to do, I just remembered."

"Are you okay? You're acting kind of strange," said Mercedes.

"I'm fine," Ben replied. "Oh, and if you think that way, then why didn't you just tell him that?" Ben said.

"Tell who what?" Mercedes asked, with a very confused look on her face.

"Oh, not you. Sorry. I was talking to him," he said, gesturing in Sam's direction without even looking. He turned back around towards the door and walked through. A few seconds later, he popped his head back in. "You know, just for the record, the whole framing device of having people think out loud in voiceover – pretty lame when an" at this point he looked up "external observer gets their head stuck in. Really, it's kind of inconvenient."

With that, he walked away, leaving a very confused glee club in his wake.


	10. Meanwhile, Far Far Away

Somewhere very far away, people were crying. Pleading with fate to return a lost one of their number – a missing child loved by the people around him. The reason for his escape – they theorised it was the truth. The hard truth that he'd revealed to them so soon before he left. The truth about the feelings that he'd kept aside. He didn't care anymore, and he thought that everyone hated him because of it. Treated him differently.

The idea that he'd been trapped in an impossible blue box was just that to them. Impossible. And that was how they treated it. So, when the episode aired, naturally, they were shocked. And angry. How could he have hid in America for so long, filming that show he loved – and why was he appearing as himself? When there were no answers for them in reality, they took to a more abstract approach. They watched the whole thing, and then they understood.

He was trapped, but he was coming back. Even if he didn't know it yet.

And somewhere closer, but still an age off, the TARDIS was shaking like they'd never seen it shake before. "I don't understand why this is happening!" the Doctor yelled over the sounds of the aching ship. "It's a straightforward course!"

"Well, maybe you picked the wrong route?" asked Rory, trying to make sense out of the crazy space nonsense that the Doctor spouted all the time.

"We're not talking about some Navman GPS here; this is a complicated navigational system!"

"Well, if it's complicated, then you're more likely than not to get it wrong!" he hated when the Doctor patronized him. It only served the purpose of making things ten times worse.

"Just relax, Rory. I'm sure everything is under control," Amy said, whilst, ironically enough, shouting above the noise of the ship that they'd so willingly called home about to crash. Probably about to crash. "_Gosh, I'm even this semantic in my head," _Rory thought. The Doctor looked at him quizzically for a moment, then returned to the six-sided console in the middle of the room.

"If I can just figure out where I've plotted us-"

"So you don't know where we're going then?" The Doctor looked thoroughly fed up – but not as fed up as Rory. "Why do you keep doing this? Don't lie, just help us understand. Show some weakness for once in your life!" The Doctor just gaped at him. "Now steer this damn thing out of whatever ridiculous intergalactic eddy you've brought it to and GET US SOMEWHERE SAFE!"

"_That was oddly satisfying and not, at the same time,"_ he thought. In response, the TARDIS gently stopped, gave a lurch (just so much so that they all fell to the floor very quickly), and a loud bell clanged.

"Well that shouldn't be going off." As soon as it had started, it stopped. The screen in the middle of the console flickered, and the Doctor reached over, held one side to stabilize it, and then gave it a few good whacks on the other.

"That's your way of fixing EVERYTHING around here," Amy said, frustrated. "We've landed now, so can you get a fix on where we are?"

"It looks like… well it looks a little like Ohio. A town called," he squinted at this point, "sorry, there's lots of interference in the navigational system. But I think I can make out the word…. Lima."

"Lima, Ohio. Sounds…" Rory began.

"… really boring," finished the Doctor. But whoever got the number for the TARDIS rang us from here." He strode over to the doors confidently, and pulled, but they wouldn't budge. "Something's wrong – I can't open the doors." The lights in the console room dimmed, and the whole place became an eerie shade of red.

"Well, that can't be good," said Rory, and gulped loudly. The big circular viewer flickered, like there was static.

"Someone's trying to relay a message," said the Doctor, eyes transfixed on the screen. A sound played out from the speakers. A low growl, and then two simple words that they would seriously regret ignoring. Two very easy and basic words that would decide their fates. Just those two words.

"Leave. Now." The static cleared and the room returned to normal. The Doctor checked the door lock, and it moved freely – there was a ping from the central console, and everything was back to the way it was.

"We have a choice," said the Doctor, ominously. The tension in the room was palpable – the anticipation even more so. "We can either open those doors, leave the ship and, as I'm sure you've guessed, change our lives forever. Or, we can pilot the ship away to what I can only promise is relative safety. We either stay, or go. Fight or flight. Flee or-"

"Can you just stop talking, please?" asked Amy, annoyed. "When you told me that counting those doors would change my life, did it stop me? No. It encouraged me. We'll do this because we can't just turn our backs on a new future."

"What happens if we regret it?" asked Rory, slightly afraid of his wife at the moment.

"We can't live our lives hoping not to regret adventure, or we risk being boring."

"At least boring is safe, Amy. None of this is safe, and I'm not so sure that we should still be here."

"Do you really expect me to turn my back on this?" Amy spread her arms and gave a little twirl. "I've seen things on the outside of this ship that I couldn't have dreamed of, ever. I waited fourteen years for him to show up, and I'm not about to throw it all away because it might not be safe."

"Might not?" Rory muttered.

"Can you two please just decide already? I'm shaking with anticipation." In fact, the Doctor was staying calm and steady, like he always was, but he used the expression lightly.

"NO, YOU'RE NOT!" they both screamed at him, at the same time.

"I love you, but you're just so damn BORING sometimes!" Amy spat.

"Yeah, well, at least when you're with me you know there's the inverse chance that you're going to be KILLED!" Rory replied, with equally as much venom in his voice.

"That's enough! We are leaving this ship, and we are going to see what's out there, and if we get hurt, well then it's OUR OWN DAMN FAULT!"

"FINE!" Rory screamed, opening the doors and walking out confidently.

"FINE YOURSELF!" yelled Amy, and walked out after him.

"WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING?" the Doctor shouted, and followed, closing the doors with a click of his fingers.


	11. Chlorine and Strawberries

The drive to the pool was silent for Sam and Finn. They didn't seem to know what to say to each other.

"So, why do you think he'll be there again?" Sam asked, for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

"He had a swimming costume when he unpacked, and sometimes when I'm really close to him, I smell chlorine." Finn instantly regretted saying the last part, but Sam hadn't noticed.

"Yeah, me too. Chlorine and strawberries." Sam sighed dreamily.

"Well, the strawberries are probably one of Kurt's shampoos," Finn said.

"_I really don't understand what's happening to me," _Sam thought. _"I can't stop thinking about him. I can't stop thinking about what he's doing, what he's thinking – specifically what he's thinking of me, which is kind of awkward, even if it's only in my head."_

"_Sam's been acting kind of weird, but I'm sort of grateful for that. It means he probably hasn't realised how weird I've been acting," _thought Finn. _"For some reason, I wanted to… to…. Give Ben a hug Ben last night. He looked so strangely restless in that bed. He was just begging for me to ask if I could hold him."_

If Rachel had been there, she'd probably have made some comment about the fact that "the positions you two are making are very theatrical blah blah blah", but she wasn't. Finn didn't really know where she was anymore – whatever had possessed her to be doing stuff like that, hadn't come from inside of her. It was something foreign, something wrong.

"_I don't even know why the way Rachel's acting bothers me –she made it clear that she totally doesn't care about me at all by the way that she acted. Rachel's insane, and I think I should try ignoring her for a while."_ Finn's thoughts were interrupted by the pool coming in sight.

"Almost there," Sam said, half-heartedly, like his mind was elsewhere.

"Yeah," Finn said lazily, pulling into the pool's parking area. He found a spot, clicked the car locked and they both walked towards the pool. They moved towards the stands and sat down. "Do you see Ben anywhere?" They both looked at the lanes and noticed a figure gliding easily through a butterfly stroke, and simply stared for a while.

The way that Ben swam was mesmerizing, intoxicating even. The two teenagers just goggled hopelessly. Ben was doing lap after lap after lap. He wasn't stopping, wasn't faltering – didn't miss a beat, swing his arm the wrong way or even kick out wrong. His breaths were timed impeccably, and his entire being was moving across the pool easily. After half an hour, Ben reached out of the pool and pulled himself out, walking towards the change rooms. It took Finn and Sam a moment to realize that he had left, eyes still glued to the spot where he had been just a second before.

"We should… follow him?" asked Sam, still unwilling to move.

"Yeah. Yeah, we should," Finn agreed, and they both walked away, slightly dazed and confused.

Ben was getting changed when Sam and Finn walked in. "What are you guys doing here?" he asked, with a mildly oblivious look.

"We were looking for you," Finn replied. "We got worried."

"And you knew I was going to be here…" Ben was waiting for an explanation.

"You brought a swimming costume to my house," Finn said. _"And you always smell of a sickly sweet chlorine," _Finn thought.

"Yeah, right. Forgot about that." He pulled his arm close to his face, and sniffed. "I try my best to wash it out but I'm always in the pool, so…"

Finn recoiled in shock. "Wash out… wash out what?" he said, feigning ignorance.

"Oops, sorry. I do that often," Ben said, still living in his own little world.

"Do what?"

"Answer things posed in ridiculous thought/voiceover."

"_Thought/voiceover?"_ Sam just looked confused, as though the answer he'd been expecting was not provided.

"Well, did you think I was some kind of mystical mind reader or something?" Ben asked, slightly frustrated as he finished getting dressed.

"_I didn't really care, so long as you looked at me," _Sam thought, although what actually came out was "Yeah, kind of."

Ben suppressed a smile as he picked up his bag of clothes. He ran a hand through his hair and, with a sizzle, it dried.

"Wouldn't that burn you, or something?" Finn asked.

"No, it's a relatively safe temperature," Ben replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I need to get going, see you at your place – okay?" With that, he started to walk out of the change room.

Sam grabbed his arm. "Wait! You haven't answered any of our questions."

"Well I'm sure they would have been a lot easier to answer if they'd been asked," Ben replied, seeming a little testy.

"We're asking them now," Sam said, _"specifically so that you don't leave," _was what followed in his head.

"Oh please, you're not worried for me, you're worried for yourselves. You want to know if you've got on my good graces or not. Sorry if I've intimidated you or made you feel uncomfortable but, quite frankly, you brought it all on yourselves."

"_I would think that he talked too much if I wasn't so afraid that he could hear what I'm thinking,"_ Finn thought, and Sam's face simply read confusion. He hadn't noticed, however, that he was still holding Ben's hand. Suddenly, a pulse ran through from his fingers into him, and it did hurt – a little, maybe not too much, but still enough to make him upset.

"What was that for?" Sam said, shaking his arm.

"I was afraid you'd lost all feeling in it, seeing as it hadn't moved in so long, and was only too happy to oblige you regaining it," Ben looked a little ticked off, but other than that neither boy thought that he could seriously do them any damage. Finn moved to stand in front of the door.

"_Please don't go," _he thought. "We're not done asking you questions yet," he said.

"How did you get here anyway? It's not like you have a car or anything," Sam asked.

Ben spun on his heel to look at him. "I drove the TARDIS. Anything else?"

"How come you know what we're thinking? How come you always know the right thing to say, the right thing to do…" _"how come you know everything?,"_ was the next question.

"I know 'everything' as you so eloquently put it because of the source of my psyonic energy," Ben said.

"I didn't ask how you knew everything," Sam said.

"You and I both know that you did," came the unsatisfying reply, and Finn simply looked puzzled.

"Did you come here to push me around, or did you come here to help?" Ben asked.

"To help," they both said in unison.

"_But sometimes a little pushing doesn't really –"_

"You came here to help me," Ben cut off. "And whilst I'm grateful, I really don't need help at the moment. So, thanks but no thanks. Can I go now?" He gave Finn a look that melted something deep inside of him. "Please just let me leave, Finn." With that, Finn walked to the side and let Ben pass.

"You just let him go?" Sam asked, but there was no use. Finn was too busy staring at Ben leave.

"_He walks really-"_

"SERIOUSLY JUST SHUT UP!" Ben yelled from a few metres away.


	12. False Smiles

Kurt was a little bit unsure of Finn's new friend, Ben. He had seemed nice, but a little... strange. When Finn had checked out for the evening, they had had a little chat with each other.

duh du du du du du du du dah

(Swipe sideways)

"_So what have you been up to at Dalton? Made plenty of friends?" Ben was sitting with his legs crossed on his bed, and looking up at Kurt, who was doing the same from his bed._

"_I guess so. People are so accommodating..."_

"_But you don't feel at home?"_

"_Yeah. I don't feel like they want me there because of who I am – they want me there because..." Kurt's face darkened._

"_What's wrong?" a single tear slowly fell down Kurt's cheek. He wiped it off with his thumb._

"_I... I don't know why they'd want me there." He turned to face Ben, who had moved up onto his bed and sat next to him._

"_I'm sure everything will be fine, Kurt. If there is a problem though, you know that you can always talk to your brother or your parents – even me. I'm happy to listen."_

"_I just don't know if it's the place for me."_

"_You know that your friends at McKinley could keep you safe – we could keep you safe. I might not be able to promise that I'll stay for long, but I think that I could help as well. Come back for just a day at least – see that things have changed. Think about it."_

(Swipe sideways back to present day)

Kurt was interrupted from his thought process by a slight wheezing, groaning noise. A blue box was appearing slowly next to the bathroom door. The noise stopped with a BONG! sound. Ben stepped out of the doors facing the bathroom.

"Damn! Not this again." He walked back into the ship, and suddenly it disappeared and reappeared, this time with the doors facing the bed. Ben walked out. "Much better!" he said, and walked into the bathroom, leaving Kurt absolutely puzzled.

The night was drawing to a close, and Finn was knocking on the door to the bathroom. "Come on man, you've been in there since before I got home!"

Kurt looked a bit annoyed. "It's been nearly an hour and a half; you can't possibly need to be in there for that long."

"I'll be out in a minute," Ben said simply from inside the bathroom.

"You said that ten minutes ago. It's gotten to the point where I'll be behind in my moisturizing routine."

"So help me, I may just set your moisturizing routine back a little. It's not the end of the world, Kurt." With that, he stepped out of the bathroom to gasps from both boys. "What?" he asked innocently. "Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Nothing is wrong with what you're wearing AT ALL," said Finn, with his eyes wide open, refusing to shut.

"...and that's precisely what's wrong with what you're wearing," finished Kurt jealously. _"His jaw never dropped that wide when he was looking at anyone else of our gender. What's going on with him?"_

Ben was wearing a v-necked shirt – loose and hanging limply. His pants seemed tight but loose at the same time (_"how that works is just beyond me"_) and on his feet were a pair of high ugg-boots. It was simple, bed-time stuff – but somehow he wore it like a dream.

"How do you do that?" Finn asked, still gaping.

"What?" Ben said, still playing out the whole I-look-amazing-but-I-have-no-idea-of-the-fact thing. "Get changed for a **very** long time?"

"No, be all..."

"... alluring. Gorgeous. Capital A amazing." _"But most of all, how do you manage to even make my straight step-brother stare at you – the one who I just got over crushing on?"_ Finn blushed at the comparisons, _"probably because he's afraid of looking gay," _and Ben just gave a curt, closed mouthed smile.

"Oh, that? Easy. It's forty percent about the attitude, fifty percent the clothes, and ten percent the best god-given metabolism this side of the Milky Way," he said, still beaming as he strode over to his bed. "Well, that and never really open my mouth properly." Kurt had noticed that he was talking with a slight lisp – his lips looked overdrawn and he'd never really shown his teeth.

"Please don't tell me you haven't just taken out your dentures," Finn said. "I have to use that bathroom."

"No, something much easier to cope with," Ben said, and gave a toothy grin, revealing a wiry retainer. "It's what I get for having braces. I had to find the exact right size in the dental bay across the hall around the corner, to the left of the swimming pool and two doors down from the library," he said.

"And all of that was in our bathroom?" Kurt said, as he snuggled up under his covers. Finn however, was still standing, and very slowly moved towards his bed.

"Wow, I feel really..."

"drained?" Ben asked.

"Yeah. Like I've just got no strength at all." Ben got up and moved to sit next to Finn on his bed. He put his arm around Finn's shoulder and looked him right in the eyes.

"You should drink coffee in the mornings. The caffeine might just wake you up," he said, and leaned in a little closer. Finn could feel Ben's minty breath on his face. "But I can think of other things," he said teasingly. He gave Finn a poke in the ribs before, torturously, walking back to his bed.

"_What even was that?_" Finn wondered. _"Was that supposed to mean something?"_

He thought he heard a "Sure" from Sam's general direction before he started to feel a bit dizzy. "Whoa," he said. "I feel kind of –" and then he fell back onto the bed, collapsed. Kurt sprang out of his bed.

"Finn!" he yelled, slapping him on the face. "What's wrong?" He didn't make a sound. "FINN!"

"Oh, relax Mr. Dramatic. You and I need to talk."

"And you needed to knock out my brother to do it?"

"Well, you did seem kind of jealous. Thought I was doing you a favour," Ben pointed out, but Kurt just gave him a 'bitch, don't even' look. "Fine, fine. I was sort of sapping his strength, because I'm weak right now. I promise he'll be fine, he just got a little weak. He'll wake up in the morning."

"Sapping his strength? What's that about?"

"Let's just put it down to the fact that the consciousness inside of me, my source of psyonic energy, takes a lot to feed. To sustain me. That's why I've had to drain the two of you discreetly. Nothing much until now – he just passed out a little. I swear that he'll be okay."

Kurt slid Finn's head onto his pillow whilst Ben swung his legs onto the end of the bed. He walked over to Ben, finger outstretched. "He'd better be. Otherwise, so help me, I will kill you." Ben started to laugh, but Kurt's face remained calm. He was deadly (no pun intended) serious.


	13. Assigned Endings

Morning came the next day (as could be expected). Kurt and Ben were eating breakfast when Finn stumbled into the kitchen. "Did I pass out last night?" he asked, and sat down at the kitchen table with his head in his hands.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine," came the unwanted reply from Ben. Kurt glared at him.

"You don't have any right to be snarky. It was your fault," Kurt said sharply.

Ben dropped his toast on the plate, walked the plates over to the sink and walked down the stairs to the basement. "See you at school, Finn!"

When they heard the TARDIS finish dematerializing, Kurt turned to Finn. "What the heck is up with this guy? He's totally insane." _"And hot. Kind of hotter than me."_ "You'd better avoid him." _"Damn. I got over this. I'm into Blaine now, right? Safe, sweet, guiding, friendly, GAY, brave Blaine. Just let Finn go."_

Finn started to make his own breakfast. "I don't know. He's pretty fun."

"He sapped your energy until you passed out, Finn. He told me so himself."

"Well, we need a twelve for Regionals, and I'm not screwing that up."

"You'd put your life in those hands just because you need a twelve for Regionals?" Kurt tutted.

"Well I'm sorry Mr. High Horse, but we don't all go to some fancy school where acapella is cool and no-one gets bullied!" Finn yelled, almost instantly regretting the words as they tumbled out of his mouth.

"So that's how you feel, huh?"

"You know what I meant, Kurt. You just ran away, and you didn't even let us try to help you."

"There was NOTHING you could have done, Finn."

"You know that's not true. We could have protected you!"

"From what? From myself? From being so over the top that it gets me harassed and attacked?"

"At least you got the chance to be over the top at McKinley – you hate wearing a uniform every day. I can see it killing you!"

"If wearing a uniform means that I don't get-"

"Just stop, Kurt. Stop trying to be something that you're not."

"What if this is who I am, Finn? What if you don't know me like you think you do?"

"We both know that's not true. I know you pretty well. I know the real reason you don't want me hanging around that Ben kid as well."

Kurt blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about. He MADE you pass out, Finn. What other reason do I need?"

"Maybe one that doesn't make you look so needy and jealous?" At that moment, Finn felt a sharp pain across his cheek – it took him a few moments to realize that he'd just been slapped right across the face.

A tear ran down Kurt's cheek. He grabbed his keys from the counter and stormed out in a huff.

The entire glee club was assembled in the choir room expectantly – Mr. Schuester had revealed that there was a special assignment this week to help them find a song for their upcoming Invitational and, if there was a better one – maybe even for Regionals. When Mr. Schue finally did walk in, everyone looked up from their tight conversations.

"Alright guys, it's time that I reveal to you our assignment for this week, which I'm sure you're going to love." Everyone leaned in closer to listen. "We did a similar thing last year, but this time I'm going to give you a bit freer reign. Your assignment is to find something you want to say to someone, and sing it at the top of your lungs." He walked over to the board and wrote a word in all capitals. "Messages! You're all trying to communicate with each other, trying to resolve your dramas and spill what it is that you want to say. This way, you can find a song that does that, and sing it to someone. This week, we're all going to learn a little bit more about how to express ourselves. Oh, and another thing – there's no limit. You can repeat this as many times as you want. Just keep letting out what it is to say until you can't take it anymore!" He was beaming.

Everyone in the room smiled, all silently contemplating a message that they wanted to express or something that they had to say. Ben noticed Finn and Sam both glance at him with grins, but decided to shrug it off. There was nothing there, right?

Right?

Right.

Totally. Nothing. Don't do anything stupid. Just get it done and leave.

He could hardly think, what with... no. Can't even consider what's hiding in there. Just push It away and forget about It.

It's going to go away. It has to go away. It couldn't... It wouldn't... well at the very least It shouldn't. Shouldn't It?

IT.

The dreaded It. Driving him mad. Making him do things, whispering in his ear ever so softly. Lying. Cheating. How to walk. How to dress. What to say. How to act.

It was telling him how to live. And he hated it. Hated It as well. In some ways he welcomed It. It had brought him closer to his dreams, his hopes. It was kind, and It was benevolent.

For now.

Ben was snapped out of his reverie by the loud ringing of the bell.

Finn was getting his things from his locker, preparing for his classes ahead – Spanish, US History – not stuff he shared with Ben. He was a little disappointed – he had been looking forward to talking to him, just seeing him even.

A moment passed and his locker door was slammed sharply and quickly. A small brunette was looking up at him expectantly. "We need to talk," Rachel said, and Finn turned and started to walk away. Rachel kept pace and walked to next to him.

"No, Rachel, we don't. I don't have time for this conversation."

"Yes, you do. I'm only trying to protect you, Finn. Ben isn't what he seems."

"Well, that's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?" Rachel averted her gaze.

"I understand that you don't trust me, but – ugh!" Rachel suddenly clutched at her stomach, and Finn automatically stopped to see what was wrong.

"So, I was thinking, if you want to maybe catch up –" Sam stopped talking when he noticed Ben clutch his stomach and groan. He looked up desperately.

"Oh, oh no."

"Ben, what is it?"

"It's coming, Sam. It's coming for all of us." He tumbled to the floor, grabbing Sam's phone from his hand where it had been to take Ben's number. He held onto the phone tightly, like it was his last chance.

"Remember Sam, It's coming for…"

"For what? What's coming?"

Ben looked up at him with an intense gaze. **"It's coming for me."**

And that was when he passed out.


	14. Dyslexic Texting with Death and Mayhem

Rachel was running somewhere, but Finn couldn't tell where her target was. She was moving so erratically, there was nowhere that it was logical for her to be going. When she crashed into the auditorium, he knew what she was going to do, and rolled his eyes. Once again, Rachel Berry decides that when life gets you down, you need to sing about it. Except… there was no equipment. He followed her onto the stage, where she collapsed.

Finn resisted the urge to run to her side, instead deciding to wait and watch what was happening. A shadow was coming over her entire body. He moved a little closer. "Don't. Don't come closer, Finn. It's starting – I'm ascending."

"Ascending?" He knew what the word meant (surprisingly though that might be) but she didn't look like she was going up to anywhere. She was just lying on the floor of the auditorium. She shivered as the shadow started to move up. Rachel closed her eyes, awaiting what she knew was inevitable. The Darkness would envelop her and then she would lose everything important. Her consciousness, her thoughts – her entire mind would be enveloped and broken down. She would never sing again.

The shadow was moving upwards, as opposed to merging with Rachel like it had promised. She quickly rolled over onto her stomach, then back onto her back and stood up, backing away from the shadow slowly. "What's wrong? You said..."

Then It spoke. "There is... a craft." Just then, they heard a raspy, groaning noise – it was Ben's TARDIS. But this was... this was different. Like the noise was there on purpose – like it wasn't necessary. When Ben landed his ship, the noise was confident, like it knew that it had to be there. This... this was like... leaving the breaks on. Once the ship had materialized, the doors opened and a red headed woman stormed out, followed closely by a guy of probably the same age wearing a bubble vest a little bit like something that Finn would wear.

Another guy, probably a bit older and wearing a suit and bow tie (_"is that seriously a bowtie?")_ stepped out after them "WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING?" he asked, as though he knew the answer, before he saw the shadow in the middle of the auditorium. The man in the suit rushed in front of the pair who'd come out of the ship. "You two – over there! Get back!"

Rachel turned around –she hadn't noticed Finn standing behind her. He put his arms out and she ran behind him, thankfully not interpreting the gesture as an invitation for a hug.

"What are you doing here?" the Doctor yelled at the Shadow in the middle of the stage.

"You know this… thing?" Amy asked, only slightly surprised. The Doctor knew everyone.

"This thing… this thing is dangerous." The Shadow turned to face him, and a few jolts of lightning ran throughout Its body. It shook the top of Its head, and Rachel's face appeared at the top of Its body as a surrogate head. "Tell him... tell him it's over. We need to take a step back. Tell him… tell him what's happened."

"I will," the Doctor nodded, and then did a double take. "What has happened?"

"I have died." With that, the darkness dissipated out in an explosion. Silence overtook the auditorium for a moment, before Rachel tore down the stairs and out of the door.

"Are you here for… for Ben?" Finn asked simply.

"We might be," came the cryptic reply from the Doctor. "You are?"

"Finn Hudson. You?"

"My name is the Doctor. These are my companions Amy and Rory."

"We'd better go find him, then." With that, Finn turned around and the trio followed him.

Sam leaned down to inspect Ben. He didn't look hurt, but his eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply. He looked peaceful.

Then his eyes snapped open quickly, and Sam recoiled. "Ben? Are you alright?"

Ben closed his eyes again, breathed in, and smiled. "Perfectly fine, thank you." With that, he got up and walked away. Sam's mouth was open in a wide "O" and his eyes were open even wider.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" He called.

"Positive," Ben called back, and turned a corner away. Sam felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around.

"Hey, have you seen Ben anywhere?" Finn asked, and just as Sam was about to reply, he felt a vibration in his pocket. He pulled his phone out.

**Ben Spencer:**_ Say no, for now. And give my regards to Mr. Bowtie._

Sam pondered on it for a moment. "Nope, haven't seen him. But I'm sure he gives his regards," he said, facing the strange man in the bowtie behind Finn. The phone buzzed again.

**Ben Spencer: **_Way to be subtle._

He quickly typed back a reply.

**Sam Evans: **_If you wantde that guy 2 have ur regards y didn't you turn the cnorer and tell him ?_

The dyslexia made things so much more difficult. Finn and the three weird people following him walked away.

**Ben Spencer:** _I'm not around the corner, Sam._

**Sam Evans: **_:S... where r u? U only jsut left._

**Ben Spencer: **_You'd be surprised. It's hard to explain._

**Sam Evans: **_GTG dude, US History time with Fnin. C U there?_

**Ben Spencer: **_Honestly? I just came here from Australia. I have no need to take US History AT ALL._

**Sam Evans: **_KK, c u at glee. U gonna snig a mesasge?_

**Ben Spencer:** _I could know about as much as you could._

**Sam Evans: **_srsly dude, stop being so crytpic. I don't gte it._

**Ben Spencer:** _Have fun at US History, kay? I have a slight problem that I have to deal with._

**Sam Evans: **_dude, talkin business! Who u gonna whack?_

**Ben Spencer: **_I'm not going to 'whack' anyone, Sam. I'm going to whisper in their ear as a disembodied voice and tell them to back off for their own safety._

**Sam Evans: **_when u say stuff like that i never know if ur seroius._

**Ben Spencer: **_That's the way I like it, Sam._

Sam just shook his head and put the phone in his pocket. US History wasn't going to wait forever.


	15. Delilah's No Angel After All, Sam

The Doctor walked through the locker halls, flanked by the rest of the "Time Team" or some other utterly ridiculous name with a similar meaning. The three of them were looking for a teenager named "Ben" – or that blonde kid that Finn (they'd taken the time to learn his name before he had to go to US History) had been asking about Ben. Because the way he looked at that phone – he knew something. He was hiding something.

Then there was a breeze. The hallway was empty now; the students had **all** left for class. It was eerie, the silence.

"Am I the only one who's creeped out right now?" Amy asked, as she held tightly onto Rory's arm – Rory, who looked equally as petrified, was probably not going to be very much good at comforting her.

That was when the Doctor heard it. A whisper in his ear. He felt the cold of the breath as he heard it, and shivered. Rory and Amy noticed this, because the Doctor isn't scared of anything. He just... doesn't shiver.

Ever.

"He's no me," said the voice, and then it was gone as soon as it had arrived.

Glee rehearsal started promptly that afternoon. Mr. Schuester walked in with a smile on his face. "So, guys, who's ready to sing their heart out?"

Everyone looked around sheepishly. They'd only actually gotten the assignment yesterday – nobody seemed ready to perform. Sam raised his hand slowly. "I think I might have something that I could do, if that's okay."

"By all means Sam, go ahead."

Sam stood up and grabbed a guitar.

_Hey there Delilah what's it like in New York City  
I'm a thousand miles away  
But girl tonight you look so pretty, yes you do  
Times Square can't shine as bright as you, I swear it's true_

Quinn smiled at Sam adoringly, and he smiled back – but without the warmth that she had expected.

_Hey there Delilah don't you worry about the distance  
I'm right there if you get lonely give this song another listen  
Close your eyes, listen to my voice it's my disguise  
I'm by your side_

_Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
What you do to me_

_Hey there Delilah, I know times are getting hard  
But just believe me girl, someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar  
We'll have it good, we'll have the life we knew we would  
My word is good_

Ben's face deadpanned as he realised that the beautiful song was addressed to him.

_Hey there Delilah, I've got so much left to say  
If every simple song I wrote to you  
Would take your breath away, I'd write it all  
Even more in love with me you'd fall, we'd have it all_

_Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me_

_A thousand miles seems pretty far  
But they've got planes and trains and cars  
I'd walk to you if I had no other way  
Our friends would all make fun of us  
And we'll just laugh along because we know  
That none of them have felt this way_

_Delilah I can promise you  
That by the time that we get through  
The world will never ever be the same  
And you're to blame_

_Hey there Delilah  
You be good and don't you miss me  
Two more years and you'll be done with school  
And I'll be making history like I do_

_You'll know it's all because of you  
We can do whatever we want to  
Hey there Delilah here's to you  
This one's for you_

_Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
Oh it's what you do to me  
What you do to me_

Everyone looked drained as the song ended – Quinn, because she'd realised that her boyfriend was very much in love with someone else, and Ben, because he had realised that he was that someone else. Suddenly, Sam's phone vibrated in his pocket.

**Ben Spencer: **_That was beautiful, Sam._

Sam looked at Ben, very confused. He quickly typed back a reply.

**Sam Evans: **_hw do u type w/out lking at the screen?_

**Ben Spencer: **_Let's just say for the purposes of illustration that there __**is**__ no screen._

**Sam Evans: **_this isnt rly u, is it? Hu is dis?_

**Ben Spencer: **_That's where it gets confusing. Which one of us is the facade, and which is the face? Which of us is reality, and which one fiction? That's up to you to decide. I must warn you, however, that one of us started the Second World War. And I promise it totally wasn't me._

**Sam Evans: **_ur a crazy. howevr u got this nmbr i dnt care just lve me alone._

**Ben Spencer: **_Ask him how it makes him feel. Just do it._

Sam turned to face Ben, and looked him deeply in the eyes. _"Please say you loved it and you get it 100%." _"How did that make you feel?"

Ben just looked him in the eyes, and walked towards the door – straight into Finn and Rachel, who were walking in at the same time.

"You," he said sharply. "What do you think you're doing here?"

"So it's true," said Sam. Ben turned to face him, annoyed.

"What are you talking about now, bleach blonde?" Sam blushed a little, but continued.

"You're not really Ben Spencer, are you?" he countered.

"That depends on how you look at it. On one hand, I am Ben Spencer. I have the knowledge of Ben Spencer, the body of Ben Spencer – I'm that whole ungrateful wretch in one. On the other hand, I'm really just not. And don't pretend he hasn't been sexting you this whole time."

"There's a difference between sexting and texting."

"That's all you have to offer? No 'who are you really? What are you doing here?' Just... that?" He shook his head and tutted. "I honestly have better things to be doing." Finn slammed the door shut, and Sam moved towards the other one, closing off all the exits.

"You're not going anywhere."

"Fantastic idea boys, locking us both in the same room."

"I don't know who you think I am," Rachel said calmly, "but that... entity, that thing that you were so afraid of – it's gone."

Sam's phone vibrated in his pocket again.

**Ben Spencer: **_They're lying. They must be._

Sam just shook his head. It was time for an explanation. "If you won't tell us what's going on, then maybe he will." Holding his phone steady, Sam did something he should have done a while back.

He pressed the call button.


	16. You Now Have My Undivided Attention

If war could be calm, then this was it.

Amy led the charge into the choir room, but, as she shook the handle, it was firmly locked. There was a boy standing against the window – his letterman jacket made it red and she could see the fabric marks. She knocked on the window, and the large football player on the other side of the door turned around and smiled at her – it was Finn. He opened the door and let them in quickly, like he was making sure that nobody got out. The mood of the room was tense, she could tell.

Sitting unimpressed on the stool next to the piano was a teen playing something on an iPhone – she was going to assume that it was Ben, because there was a mohawked boy and a blonde kid standing on either side of him – he wasn't really heavily guarded, but Amy got the feeling that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. The blonde kid had a very drawn look on his face, like he'd just discovered something upsetting. He was holding his phone in his hands, cradling it – Amy could hear it ringing, but nobody was picking up.

Most of the rest of the group had taken positions at the back of the room – either sitting or just watching the people at the front. Nobody was moving.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I'm –"

"The Doctor, this is Amy and her husband is Rory. Can we please skip the pleasantries? This planet is already boring enough to drive me to tears," came an interrupting voice from the piano stool, still engrossed in whatever it was he was doing on his iPhone.

"You'd be doing us a service if you maybe considered looking up from whatever it is that's in your hand, young man."

Ben's eyes narrowed. "I'm older than I look. But you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

"Have we met?"

"Words have been exchanged, most certainly. But the question is, which aspect of me did you exchange them with?"

"Can you please just look me in the eyes?"

"Sorry if I seem rude, but this game of Doodle Jump truly has my partially divided attention right now. The name does say 'Beware – highly addictive' or something to that vein," he explained exasperatedly.

Sam was still staring at the screen of his phone. The ringing still continued on, and on, and on, and he just kept willing someone to answer. Quinn walked over and put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. He brushed it off with a hint of annoyance. "He's going to answer, Quinn, I know it."

"You're hoping he's going to answer. There's a difference."

"Just stop it. Leave me alone."

"Is it really you?" The Doctor asked, looking at Ben curiously.

"It really is me. I'm here. Now. Can you turn that phone off, please? It's starting to get annoying."

"And not Ben Spencer?"

"Guys, umm –" Sam tried to speak but was cut off.

"Ben Spencer's gone."

"Guys,"

"He's history, no more."

"Seriously, guys,"

"There's no way he's coming back. He's lost in some faraway spectral realm."

"I seriously think you should listen to me,"

"My essence overwhelmed him. He's not going to come back."

"You'd love that, wouldn't you," came a voice from Sam's phone, which proceeded to splutter for a few seconds. "But, unfortunately, I have this slight habit of clinging on for dear life."

There was a tense pause as silence overwhelmed the choir room.

"Who are you?" asked Sam, looking directly at Ben.

"I'm –"

"Not who I thought he was," said Ben from Sam's phone. "I take it you wouldn't mind an explanation – and I'm the one you want to hear it from."

Amy and Rory looked at the Doctor, who was keeping a solidly blank face. "I want an explanation from one of you – I don't care which."

"Let me," came the voice from Sam's phone. "There's a realm outside of normal space – where strange things live. Beings that are what we call transcendental. They live in this realm, called the Six-Fold Realm. Within the Six-Fold Realm lived the Six-Fold God, which was split into six aspects – known as the Guardians of Time.

"Each guardian had a purpose. The White Guardian presided over all that was good and maintained structure. The Black Guardian was its opposite. The Crystal Guardian was in charge of Dreams, the Azure Guardian balance and equilibrium, the Red Guardian saw to justice and the Gold Guardian life.

"Then there was a war. A very big war. The Time War.

"The Guardians needed to do something to end it – to help the Doctor end it. To power the Moment. They needed to join their power and form into that Six-Fold God again. Together, they managed to end the Time War – but at a huge cost.

"The White and Black Guardians became very weak and, to save them, they were split. From the White Guardian came the Light Guardian, who took charge of all that is good, and from the Black Guardian came the Dark, who presides over evil."

"So you're" at this point he pointed at Ben, "either the Black or the Dark Guardian."

"That's where you're wrong," said the Guardian in question. "I'm neither."

"Then who are you?" asked Finn, looking dopey and, as could be expected, confused.

"He's the White Guardian," said Rachel, suddenly looking proud of herself for figuring it out. "The Black Guardian tried to take over me, but it failed. It had to… to ascend without a form."

"A price which it will pay for dearly. The Six-Fold Realm doesn't take kindly to non-formed, malnourished transcendental beings. It'll be lucky to escape alive," said the White Guardian.

"You're going to have to follow it," said Ben from Sam's phone.

"Not likely," said the White Guardian. "Do I really need to spell it out for you?"


	17. Lemon Head Slash Ungrateful Wretch?

_You were workin' as a waitress in a cocktail bar  
When I met you  
I picked you out, I shook you up and turned you around _

_Turned you into someone new _

_Now five years later on you've got the world at your feet _

_Success has been so easy for you _

_But don't forget, it's me who put you where you are now _

_And I can put you back down too_

The way the White Guardian was using an edit of Ben's voice to convey this song was haunting – he had passion and fire in his tone.

_Don't, don't you want me?_

_You know I can't believe it _

_When I hear that you won't see me _

_Don't, don't you want me? _

_You know I don't believe it _

_When you say that you don't need me _

_It's much too late to find _

_You think you've changed your mind _

_You'd better change it back or we will both be sorry _

_Don't you want me, baby?_

_Don't you want me, ohh?_

_Don't you want me, baby?_

_Don't you want me, ohh?_

He looked at Sam challengingly, with an expression that read 'this is what I've got, Lemon Head, what's he got?' It got to him, but thankfully he wasn't incensed for long. Music came out of the speakers of his phone.

_I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar _

_That much is true _

_But even then I knew I'd find a much better place _

_Either with or without you_

_The five years we have had have been such good times _

_I still love you _

_But now I think it's time I live my life on my own _

_I guess it's just what I must do _

_Don't, don't you want me? _

_You know I can't believe it _

_When I hear that you won't see me _

_Don't, don't you want me? _

_You know I don't believe it _

_When you say that you don't need me _

The part where they did the duet was creepy – it was like listening to a voice in stereo. It was a total match of wills, and the glee kids liked it.

_It's much too late to find _

_You think you've changed your mind _

_You'd better change it back or we will both be sorry _

_Don't you want me, baby? _

_Don't you want me, ohh? _

_Don't you want me, baby? _

_Don't you want me, ohh?_

"Not particularly," said Ben, from Sam's phone.

"That's tough, clinger. Cause I'm a keeper." With that, he pushed past Finn at the door and stormed out.

"I've never known a guardian to be so… human," said the Doctor after a few seconds, as everyone processed what was happening.

"He's going to ascend after the invitational – with my body in tow. I really don't know what to do."

"Can I talk to you privately for a second, please?" asked Sam.

"Sure. It's not like I'm really going anywhere," Ben replied wistfully. Sam took the phone, pressed the button that turned the speaker off, and walked to a corner of the room.

"What's really going on with…" he seemed to struggle to find a word to describe whatever it was he had to say. "With us?"

"Us? What do you mean, us?"

"I like you. I like you a lot," Sam said, kind of embarrassed that he had to say this over the phone.

"Sam, you're sweet. But you're not really real. Once I'm safe again I'll probably have to go home. Besides, I'm not really looking for some kind of fling – right now I think I just need somebody to love."

Sam was worried. What if he said something that he couldn't commit to? Made a promise that he knew in his heart he didn't want to keep? "I could… I could be that somebody."

Silence.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

"Ummm... okay? I guess?"

Pause.

"Wait... did we just half-heartedly agree to go out with each other?"

Sam was annoyed. Now he was making this feel like it was a bad thing. "When you put it like that, it's kind of bleak."

"So... what about Quinn?"

That was something he really hadn't wanted to consider. "I don't know. We'll work it out."

"That's definitive."

"Don't make me the bad guy."

"Why does there have to be a bad guy?"

"Because... because."

"My god, I just agreed to go out with someone whose idea of being definitive is the word 'because'."

"But... you still agree, right?"

A sigh. "Yeah, okay."

Sam pumped a fist in the air. "Could you be any cheesier?" asked Ben from the phone. "Seriously, fist in the air and everything?"

"You make me want to strangle you sometimes."

"Aww, thank you sweetie," Ben said, being all sugary from the other end of the phone.

"Did you... did you just call me sweetie?"

"Yeah, is that okay?"

Sam had a total meltdown. "Yeah, it's cool, babe," he said, trying to act nonchalant. "_He just called me sweetie! Score!"_

"I heard that," Ben commented drily from the other end of the phone.

"I'd better get back to practise," Sam said sadly.

"Okay. I think I have an idea for a set list for our Invitational – it's a bit risky, but we might be able to do it."

"Risky how?" Sam asked, afraid they'd do something like they had with Rocky Horror and just not do it at all.

"Risky like it involves a very complex plan to rid that horrible demon masquerading as an all-powerful deity from my body."

"Oh, so like dangerous risky."

"And we'd be singing a duet."

That really did it. "A... a duet?"

"I knew that would freak you out. Just forget it – maybe we're moving a little too fast."

"No... no." Sam was sure he could do this. "Just let me talk to Quinn first. Then maybe we can start picking out a duet."

"Sure. Whatever."

"_Great one, Sam. Bring up the soon to be ex. You're just a fantastic boyfriend, huh."_ He thought, annoyed.

"I'll talk to you later, kay?" Ben asked.

"Sure. Speak to you soon." Sam hung up. And, strangely enough, found himself regretting it.

"_He's really got me hung up. Damn."_


	18. Tin Dog and Frankenteen on Affections

As soon as he passed by Finn, the White Guardian sauntered through the hallways, searching for his locker, when he was stopped by a short cropped blonde sporting a blue tracksuit. He stared her straight in the face. "Something the matter?" he asked simply.

"The matter, Johnny Come Lately, is this – you're walking around like you own the place. And the only person who is allowed to do that is me. There's an order around here, and you'd better get used to it – fast." She didn't beat around the bush.

"Thanks for the heads up, but I think I'll walk how I want to," he said defiantly, completely unafraid of the woman in front of him.

"What happened to your accent?"

That made him worried. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You used to speak in an accent that made me think you were from Australia. Now you just sound… toneless."

"I have a bit of a cold."

She narrowed her eyes. "You'd better start spewing some answers, or I will make you spew. Seriously, you will vomit the truth, or else."

"I honestly don't think I have to explain myself to you – wait a second," he said, pausing. He made a face like he was thinking very hard. "I remember you. Little Suzie Sylvester of Lima, Ohio. You were the one who was upset about her sister."

"Excuse me?"

"I remember… it was the dead of the night, and you were about four or five, so… about twenty five years ago. You were crying and praying for your sister to be better, so that people would see her the same way that you do."

"Stop."

"And then I came down and comforted you…"

"And told me to stop whining because nobody was listening." She had this look of anger plastered on her face.

"I'm the representation of order in the entire Universe. I will walk down these halls the way I want and you won't tell me that I'm not to."

She just stared at him. He pushed past. "Say hello to that lovely sister of yours for me," came the call from down the hall.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory had decided to stay at glee club's rehearsal today. "So, after all that drama, where were we? Right, messages. Anyone have anything to say?" Mr. Schue was determined not to let what was happening get in the way of their preparations for the Invitational. Quinn's hand shot up, and she walked to the front.

"I'd like to dedicate this song to my boyfriend, Sam."

Finn noticed that Sam looked very uncomfortable as Quinn was singing Rihanna's _Don't Stop the Music_ to him, but he couldn't place why - although he was pretty sure it had something to do with the chat he'd just had on the phone with Ben in the corner. What was going on there?

"_Don't tell me I've missed the chance to even get my thoughts together because Sam's just so much more sure of himself than I am,"_ he begged nobody in particular.

Rory looked in Finn's direction – this kid looked seriously stressed out. "Hey, Finn?"

Finn appeared to gather up his thoughts before responding with a simple "Yeah?"

"Well, I was just looking... I noticed that you look kind of... upset about something? Is everything okay?"

"I guess," he sighed. "I just feel a bit... down."

"Is everything okay with your friends?"

"They're great... it's just..." he looked over to where the Doctor and Amy were sitting – whispering and giggling about show choirs in some distant galaxy and Rihanna concerts in the near future. "Do you ever get jealous?"

"Jealous of what?"

"The way that guy's all over her."

Rory snorted, attempting to regain how this conversation was meant to be about Finn, and not him. "No." Finn just looked at him with an expression on his face that was all I'm-dumb-but-not-stupid and Rory sighed. "Sometimes. But we're married – I know in the end that she loves me."

"I don't even get that. I'm jealous of someone who, as far as I can see, beat me to the punch."

"Is it someone here?"

"Yeah. But who it is isn't important... none of this is. Never mind."

"Listen, Finn. If the person you have feelings for feels them back, then you have a chance. But if they don't, you should probably try to be content with the fact that they're with someone who's making them happy. That they're happy."

"But I want him to be happy with me!" That had come out wrong.

Rory did his best to try to ignore the fact that it was a he – because that didn't change anything, didn't it? "Have you tried talking to him?"

"He's... he's too far away. I don't even know how. The only one he seems to be talking to is that Lemon Head." Yes, he had stolen Kurt's nickname for the boy who his step-brother referred to as 'the kid who put dye in his hair and **actually** thought that nobody would notice', (his name was too hard to actually fathom at that point).

"So... it's that new kid... Ben?"

"Yeah. He lives with me. A few days ago... well... I thought I felt something. But now... I don't know. I don't know what's going on. I'm used to not knowing what's going on, but this is... scary."

"Being a teenager is scary. But you have to know that you're going to come out of the other end."

Finn just nodded, but stared straight ahead.

"When this is all sorted out, maybe you should talk to him about how you feel. Get it all out in the open."

He nodded again, and Rory knew that this kid was a lost cause – his mind was elsewhere. He probably thought that the world was ending. To him, it very likely was. But Rory knew in his heart that Finn didn't know world-ending. He didn't know the fear of clinging to the hope that only one person was able to avert disaster completely.

Then again, that was probably a good thing.


	19. There's A Love Pentagon Going On

There was nothing that could bring Quinn down – she was positively on top of the world. Not only did she have a loving, sweet, cute boyfriend, but she'd just done a solo for Sectionals (without going into labour, which was an achievement, honestly) and come Christmas time she'd been under the mistletoe more times than she had either the patience or ability to count (mostly because all thoughts stopped when Sam kindly shoved his tongue down her throat). Now, the break was over, she was back in school and everything was... fine. There were no problems.

Then **he** showed up. And Sam changed.

Everyone changed. But not as much as Sam did.

It was hard to watch – hard to watch him fall for someone else.

Hard to watch him fall for a guy... when she was a girl.

Then, when it was just too hard to manage, she would look at his eyes.

Look at the look in his eyes. And soften.

He was so... in love.

It didn't matter if it was with someone else.

It was sweet to see him in love.

So she ignored it.

Then she heard the phone call. Saw the fist pump – he just got the fabled 'YES'. And he was still going out with her?

No. This was not on.

Sure, she could stand back when it was just... just looking, and feeling, but... but not saying.

No.

This was not happening.

She was not losing Sam to a guy. It wasn't happening. Not now, not ever... wait, ever? Since when was 'ever' a part of the equation?

Did she love Sam?

...

Yes.

Damn.

He chooses now to fall in love with someone else.

Crap.

This is not good.

Mr. Schue's voice is fading into hearing range. "... messages. Anyone have anything to say?"

Perfect! Message... message... let's just do Rihanna. She works.

The music starts, and Quinn just goes with it.

"_That's right, Sam. Please don't stop the music._

_It's usually me stopping the music._

_But now I don't want it to end._

_Please get that._

_Please."_

Glee is over, and everyone leaves the room.

"Hey."

"Hey," she replies, sort of unsure of her voice deserting her in his presence.

"You were really good back there."

"Thanks." Well this is awkward.

"I think we need to talk."

"You love him, don't you?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Oh."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I get it."

"I hope we can still be friends."

Snort. Not likely. "I guess. I'll see you around Sam."

A kiss on the cheek. The feet lift, and go back down, and she's moving, but there's nothing going through her mind. Nothing she can even string together as a coherent thought.

And nothing to stop her from bawling her eyes out.

The phone's ringing. 'Ben Spencer', tells the caller ID, and Sam picks it up without a moment's hesitation.

"Hey."

"Hey. You sound upset. Did you..."

"Yeah."

"Oh. How did she take it?"

Lie? Say it was amazing? That they'd already planned out a soundtrack for their next sleepover? He'll know – _"he always knows."_ "It was easier than I thought. She'd figured it out already."

"Okay. Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"So..."

"So...?"

"I need your help with that idea for our Invitational. To get my body back."

"_And sing a duet."_

"Are you sure you're okay with duets and all? It's sort of... a real slap in the face. To tell everyone that way."

"A long time ago, I let someone walk out on a duet that I shouldn't have. Duets sort of hold kind of a negative association for me. But I think if it's you, I can soldier on. I'll do it."

"Well, we're going to need the Doctor's help."

"Aren't I enough for you?" he asked, mock-disappointed.

"More than enough, Lippy. If you have a problem with it, I'd be happy to let you demonstrate building a Stattenheim Remote Control."

"A what?"

"My point exactly. Now, you need to find me that Doctor so I can show him how to put the damn thing together. That, and a data signal processor. Oh, and I'm going to need to steal his holo-processor, but don't tell him that, because he'll flip. You're going to have to take it."

"Me? I don't know the first thing about holo-processors!" _"He's so hot when he talks science-y."_

"I'll be sure to tell you all about it then – for both reasons." That was almost a purr.

"Not right now – class. Talk to you later?"

"Okay."

"So, what did you think of those kids? Talented, huh?" the Doctor and the Ponds were heading back to the TARDIS, simply because they had nothing else to do.

"Yeah. Talented and pretty sweet. They're just teenagers though – and there's a lot of pressure on them." The Doctor wasn't used to Rory making contributions to the observations they made about local culture – he usually just let Amy and the Doctor talk about it, and trusted what they thought.

"What do you mean?"

"I think there's some kind of love pentagon going on there."

"A love pentagon?" that got Amy's attention.

"Yeah. Well, I think Ben is going out with Sam, who is going out with Quinn but going to break up with her. And Quinn used to be with Finn, and possibly still has feelings for him, but now Finn likes Ben and there's all mixed signals there, and Rachel's in love with Finn and they used to date."

The other two just looked at him, with a look like 'When did you get balls'?

"I notice things, okay? And I had a little chat with Mercedes, the diva who's on the chubby side but otherwise really sweet. That girl could chat your ear off, and she helped me put three and two together."

Another confused look.

"You know, three and two? Makes five? Pentagon?" He shook his head.

"You guys are too focused on Guardians and aliens that you don't realise that there are kids here who are screaming out for help."

This time, Rory was the one leading the charge towards the TARDIS, whilst the Doctor and Amy followed.

Because he was sick of being the damn Tin Dog.


	20. All the Doctor's Christmases, At Once

The Doctor had taken Rory's phone the moment they'd walked into the TARDIS. "Since you had the presence of mind to bring your phone with you, unlike some people –" here he shot a glare towards Amy, (who responded with an indignant "Meh") "- I've just realised that I can upgrade it a little." He was poking the sonic around the insides of the phone, and it made a beeping noise. "There you go." He then continued his path onwards towards the console, bopping around and flipping switches.

Rory could have sworn that they were in park. So why was the Doctor flipping switches? _"Too complicated," _he thought. _"Just let it go."_

He looked at his phone – the screen read "Intergalactic Roaming" for a few seconds before it suddenly vibrated.

He briefly glanced at the name of the sender, before reading the message.

**Ben Spencer: **_Don't freak, but once I knew that someone other than the Doctor had a superphone, I realised that I need to talk to you. Maybe Sam doesn't need to help me with this after all._

His thumbs moved so fast that it hurt.

**Rory Williams**:_ Is that really you? How do you have a phone?_

**Ben Spencer:**_ I don't have a phone. I'm __**in **__the phones. When the White Guardian decided to assert control over my body before the ascension, it pushed me out – and out into the ether I went. But, because I clutched Sam's phone like letting go of it would have killed me, I got a link to the technological world. I can text, but actual calls and talking takes a lot of energy – or something. I don't really know how to describe what's sustaining me._

**Rory Williams:** _So you're able to contact us through phones?_

**Ben Spencer: **_Once I was in Sam's phone, I spread myself all over. Sort of like a virus, only less harmful, more egotistical and altogether better at singing. I'm everywhere in the internet now (thank you Mark Zuckerberg) and I can manoeuvre myself anywhere in the phone network._

**Rory Williams: **_So you're actually in my phone now?_

**Ben Spencer: **_Yes, and through the Doctor's sonic screwdriver (which, he clumsily left connected to your phone) I'm in the TARDIS too. I think if I tried I could use the emergency holographic projectors to project myself. Like a hologram. I also just sent a message back through the temporal buffers (thanks again to Mr. Bowtie for leaving them on) to try to warn you away from this place. Very creepy._

**Rory Williams: **_Didn't help though – we kept going anyway. But, why are you trying to hijack the TARDIS?_

**Ben Spencer:**_ Because I need bits and odd ends. Give me a second._

Suddenly, Rory became aware of a flickering at the side of his vision. A vaguely human shape was coming into place.

It was Ben.

"Hello?"

The Doctor's head snapped up quickly from the console. "Finally, you figured out how to use the holographic projector. I actually thought I was going to have to tell you."

"You're horrible, you know that? It took me ages to connect to this system. And you just ignored my warning, after all the trouble I went to to send it. Honestly, I'm surprised nobody's told you off yet."

The Doctor laughed. "Nobody's told me off?"

"Well, nobody's actually killed you... successfully. I would be proud of the fact that you've only ever almost died because somebody shot you – and even then it wasn't intentional."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." He looked around. "And I'm also going to take your confused faces and a sign that we should probably move back to the present."

"Sorry, rambling. But I do need your help."

"How can we be of assistance?" asked Amy, with a grin. "It's sort of what we do."

"I swear, I almost thought you were going to say 'I thought you'd never ask'. That would have been creepy. Regardless, I'm going to need some equipment to pull this off. And..." he trailed off, looking upwards "... done. Just printed off a set list in Mr. Schue's office. He should get it. Now, I'm going to need a compressed data sphere. Something that can interface organically."

The Doctor's eyebrows shot up. "You think I just have one of those lying around?"

Ben looked thoughtful. "Um... yes, actually. Unless you want me to stay a Data Ghost, you're going to need to transfer at least a backup of me into a data sphere so that I can interface with the other TARDIS."

"You're a Data Ghost?" the Doctor looked puzzled.

Rory turned to Amy. "What's a Data Ghost?" he mouthed. "Just go with it," she said, shrugging.

"I'm lucky this mobile system had the capacity to hold me before I could escape into something with more capacity, i.e. the internet."

"Who actually **says** i.e.?"

"Have some respect for the clinically dead, hey? Now, are you going to give me the sphere or not?"

The Doctor had a resigned look on his face. "Fine. That all?"

"Not really, no."

"All I do is give," he said, faking consignment. "And nobody ever thanks me."

"Don't even try to pull that. You're too busy kicking your heels up and setting course onwards for adventure to stay behind."

The Doctor's face sobered up. "Touche."

"I know. Now, what I'm about to tell you how to build needs to not leave this room. In fact, you need to promise me that you're not going to rebuild it once I take it."

"Oooh, now you've got my attention. Shiny, I presume?"

"Back in the day, the White Guardian had some pretty powerful connections. Two of those connections were with pioneers known as Stattenheim and Waldorf." The Doctor's face lit up. "I take it you've heard of them."

"You don't mean..."

"Yes, Doctor, I need you to help me build a Stattenheim Remote Control."

"You... you really mean it?"

Amy and Rory laughed. "You look like a kid who's just gotten all their Christmases at once," Amy teased.

"Believe me, he has," Ben said with a knowing smile. "Now, let's get to work, shall we?"

The Doctor jumped with excitement (literally).


	21. Thanks, Jacob ben Israel

Jacob pointed at the cameraman. "Make sure you get this." Suddenly, Ben Spencer strode towards them, on a pathway down the halls. "So, Ben Spencer, what do you have to say about the rumours that you're an alien from outer space? Or that you're an escaped convict hiding in McKinley High because you killed someone?"

"Listen here Jewfro. You can take your cameras and your crew and your ridiculous and annoying microphone and shove them where the sun can't shine. I honestly don't give a crap what you think."

"That's not a denial."

"You want a denial – fine. It's completely not true at all. Not at all. Happy? None of the rumours that you've made up have any basis in reality whatsoever." He shoved past and continued walking.

"This isn't over Spencer!" called Sue Sylvester, from down the hall.

"If this isn't on camera," Jacob warned the cameraman.

"You can't possibly be that person. How do you know anything about me?"

"This isn't the time, Ms Sylvester," he said warningly, twitching his eyebrows towards the camera.

"I don't care who's watching. You're going to tell me the truth. Now!"

"I don't have time for this. I'm leaving." He stormed off and Sue didn't go to follow him. She simply spread out her fingers in front of the camera.

"TURN THAT DAMN THING OFF!"

So they did.

* * *

It was lunchtime, and the entire glee club was sitting together at a table. Ben was nowhere to be seen, and Finn decided he was going to eat something – everyone felt a bit nervous about the set-list that they'd received from Ben (with a heart-warming note at the end that simply stated 'I'm pretty sure I'm going to die soon. If you don't let me perform these songs, I'll take you with me'). That being said, it was still a big risk to be performing the songs he suggested – and in the way he suggested.

As he got up to walk to the area where food was served, he was ambushed. "So, Finn Hudson, are the rumours true that you and Ben Spencer are living together because you're boyfriends?" The words came at him quicker than he had the chance to process them so he couldn't really figure out anything clever to say.

"Uh..."

"We'll take that as a yes. Thanks for your time!"

* * *

After breaking up with her boyfriend, the last thing that Quinn Fabray wanted was to talk to anyone else in the world. Her intention was to stay completely alone – but someone had other ideas.

"So, Quinn Fabray, head cheerleader, is it true that you're no longer dating Sam Evans because he's having a gay relationship with Ben Spencer?"

Quinn just sighed. "You need to learn to respect boundaries, Jacob ben Israel." She strutted away.

"We'll take that as a yes!"

* * *

"So, Noah Puckerman, is it true that you made out with Ben Spencer in glee club?"

"I'm not confirming that."

"We'll take that as a yes."

* * *

"So, Rachel Berry, will you go on a date with me?"

She stormed off.

"I'm going to take that as a yes."

* * *

"So, Mr. Schuester, is it true that your entire glee club is falling apart?"

"My glee club is doing just fine."

"We'll take that as a yes."

* * *

"So, Mrs. Pillsbury-Howell, is it true that your marriage is in turmoil because you refuse to put out?"

"My marriage is none of your business!"

"We're going to take that as a yes."

* * *

"So, Mercedes Jones, -"

"I'm going to stop you right there. My friends have already been telling me that you're harassing them, and I'm not going to let you bully me into anything. It's not your place to comment on our lives, or broadcast it to the entire world. So back off."

"I'm going to take that as a yes."

* * *

"So, Tina Cohen-Chang, is it true that you've legally changed your name to Tina Cohen-Loser?"

"That was Ms. Sylvester."

"Wow, harsh."

* * *

"So, Mike Chang, is it true that you've developed a personality?"

"That's really rude."

"And, apparently, it's true."

* * *

"So, Artie Abrams, is it true that you've found a device that will allow you to walk without a wheelchair?"

"Yeah, actually, it is."

"Finally, an actual yes."

* * *

"So, Santana Lopez, what's your opinion on Sam Evans and Ben Spencer's budding romance?"

"I really don't care very much."

"That's great, thank you. What about you, Brittany Pierce?"

"I think it's nice that we finally have dolphins at this school."

"I'm going to pretend I understand what you mean and walk away."

* * *

"So, Rachel Berry, is it true that you ran away from Finn Hudson today because you were totally repulsed by him and wanted to reconsider going out with me?"

"Just leave me alone, Jacob."

"I'm going to take that as a yes."

* * *

Finally, after it seemed like the entire school had been interviewed about the relationship he was having, Sam found himself jumped by Jacob ben Israel at the end of the day.

"So, Sam Evans, - "

"I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of using the words 'I'll take that as a yes'. Just know this – the Ben Spencer who we see around here isn't the real Ben. The real Ben is all mine, hidden away. And I care about him a lot. So you'd better leave him alone when he gets back. Or I'll personally make sure you do."

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

"So, what do we have?"

"Dynamite. We've got a confession, and lots of half hearted denials. Let's break it to the rest of the school."

The headline read: **Ben Spencer and Sam Evans: Relationship Status – Dating.**

"Perfect," said Jacob, grinning. "Things don't get to be kept secret at this school. Not on my watch."


	22. The Invitational from Hell

The Doctor, Amy and Rory hurried to take their seats. This was not something to be missed – McKinley High didn't just put up an Invitation performance every day. Besides, they'd been heavily involved in recruiting – without them, the evening's star would be preparing for an early death.

Surprisingly, Rachel, clad in a completely white dress, took a seat next to them.

"Sweetheart, the stage is over there," Amy said patiently.

"I've been participating in singing competitions since I was six months old – I think I know where the stage is," Rachel replied, indignant. "Ben recommended I start my part from here because it would have a better dramatic effect."

"And you've obviously got a flair for the theatrical," the Doctor mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel raised an eyebrow.

Before the Doctor could embarrass himself further, Principal Figgins walked up to a microphone in the middle of the auditorium stage. His face betrayed no emotion whatsoever. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to welcome you to the McKinley High New Directions' Invitational. I have been told to advise you that anyone with the medical condition known as epilepsy should be especially careful due to the level of special effects used in this performance."

Rory turned to Amy, who just shrugged.

"Without further ado, please welcome the New Directions."

* * *

"So what are we singing tonight? Nobody's told me – kind of rude to expect me to go up on stage and everything completely unprepared," the White Guardian asked Sam, with a flirty grin that Sam would have loved to whack right off of his face – if that face didn't actually belong to his now boyfriend, who would have killed him for ruining it.

"I agree. Maybe we should go somewhere to talk...?"

The White Guardian walked off, towards his TARDIS, and Sam followed him inside. He was amazed as he saw the inside of the ship - the console room was much bigger on the inside than it was on the outside (something Ben had neglected to mention) and the White Guardian, whilst dwarfed by the ship in Ben's teenage form, was floating around with grace, making like he needed no help to manage it. Sam felt a little bit ridiculous in his all white suit (with all white tie) whilst the White Guardian was dressed head to toe in black (it was safe to assume that he'd got the memo, just chosen to ignore it).

Sam waited patiently for the White Guardian to finish fiddling, and walked towards the console. "It's really big on the inside… pretty impressive."

"Thank you. I can't say that I designed it, but I did build this one. Put it together from memory." He paused and sighed. "Not my own memory, granted, but still memories."

Sam stuck a hand into his pocket. "What exactly do you know about all of us?"

"Specifically?"

"Specifically me. What do you know about me?"

"Not much. I know that you speak Na'avi better than you speak English, that you have a weakness for Quinn Fabray's eyes and you transferred to McKinley from an all boy's school."

"Not a lot about my personality though. Not about who I really am."

"No. Not really."

"Do you think I'm loyal?"

"What does any of this have to do with anything?" the White Guardian looked exasperated, and Sam knew that his patience was wearing thin. He walked closer to the central console.

"The question I asked was, do you think that, if presented the choice, I would be loyal to the people I cared about?"

The White Guardian looked at him. Stared right into his eyes and bored into his soul.

"Yes. I do."

"Then this shouldn't come as a surprise." Sam's hand emerged from his pocket with a glowing sphere, and he barely heard the White Guardian's cry as it fell to the floor of the TARDIS, and slipped through one of the holes into the lower levels. He looked at the Guardian, once all-powerful, now completely afraid, with a smirk.

"You have no idea what you've just done."

"On the contrary, I know exactly what I've done. That's why I did it." The White Guardian took a step forward and held him by the shoulders.

"You've just let a vengeful Data Ghost into the reams of a TARDIS, able to control any of the mechanisms **at will**. He could do anything to either of us. Don't you understand how dangerous that is?"

"For you maybe," Sam said, as he faded out of the White Guardian's hands, ceasing to appear.

"But you see, I've now got the eject button," Ben said from the other side of the console. "So I can let him go very easily. Especially seeing as we have business to discuss."

* * *

As soon as the preliminary applause had died down, Rachel stood up from her seat. She had a glazed look on her face, like she wasn't concentrating on anything.

_I'm about to lose my mind  
You've been gone for so long_

She started to walk towards the stage.

_I'm running out of time  
I need a doctor  
Call me the Doctor_

She walked up the steps to the stage easily, and gracefully, as the rest of the glee club, minus Sam and Ben, filed in from the sides.

_I need a doctor, doctor  
To bring me back to life_

A flat line noise could be heard over the speakers as Rachel dramatically fell into Finn's arms, and he carried her to the back of the stage with the rest of the club. Suddenly, a quick beat came from the speakers, and the rest of the glee club harmonised like a choir, lining up behind Mercedes, who began to sing.

_I need a hero  
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night  
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight  
I need a hero  
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light  
He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life_

They all spread out and paired up, spinning each other and bouncing around. The Doctor noticed Finn lifting Rachel up in the air, and quickly pulled a shiny metal remote out of his pocket, pressing a button. A hologram of Ben suddenly flickered to life at the side of the stage, and he started singing.

_Somewhere after midnight  
In my wildest fantasy  
Somewhere just beyond my reach  
There's someone reaching back for me_

He had moved to the middle of the stage and was now facing the crowd, pointing outwards dramatically with his hand.

_Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat  
it's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet_

He was lifted in the air by Puck and Mike, and carried to the end of the stage.

_Up where the mountains meet the heavens above  
Out where the lightning splits the sea  
I could swear there was someone somewhere watching me  
Through the wind and the chill and the rain  
And the storm and the flood  
I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood_

As the rest of the glee club sang _like a fire in my blood,_ a breeze drifted around the stage and suddenly, as the phrase began to end, a human-shaped figure materialized next to Ben. Sam grabbed him and they tangoed passionately around the stage as the music continued, until the song's strong part ended.

_I NEED A HERO!_

Ben finished the song off to a pause from the audience, and gave Sam a hug. "I knew I could count on you," he said.

"Forever and always," Sam replied grinning.

"Don't you forget it."

* * *

"So, what are you going to do with me?"

"I can't do anything to you. I can only ask that you give me back my body and leave me alone."

The White Guardian sighed. "It's not that simple. I need your body to ascend; otherwise I'll emerge in the Six-Fold Realm with nothing to show for myself." Ben looked confused. "You have knowledge, you have prestige and you don't care what anyone else thinks of you. You're a perfect host for me."

"I'm not the perfect host – I'm far from it." Ben sighed. "We both know why I'm confident. Why I'm smug and happy and why I look this way."

"Exactly. You can't wear this mask forever – let me take your body away. Let me ascend within your form, and I'll keep order in the universe."

Ben just shook his head, and the TARDIS started to whirr into life. "We need to get back to that stage. I need to take my body back."

* * *

Whilst waiting for any form of applause (the entire audience had simply sat stunned), Ben and Sam had found a pair of stools and Sam had brought out a guitar. Ben pulled a microphone to his mouth, whilst Sam had one set up for him, for both his voice and guitar. Ben started to sing.

_Every night I walk the streets  
Never dreamed of what could happen  
Sad and so lonely  
And saw, in the mirror my reflection  
Staring back at me  
I thought, will I ever find what I need?_

He turned to look at Sam, his eyes sparkling.

_But I'll wear that dress if you wear that tie  
And baby we'll dance through the night  
Cause no-one's got what we've got going  
Happiness never held onto me until you helped me see  
That together we're just better off, off, off_

Sam smiled sweetly, and picked up the next verse.

_Oh, my heart's been tried  
Time and again  
I always thought that it was me but  
I see now just how wrong I was  
No I haven't known you for a lifetime  
But somehow I've never been more sure that you're for me  
Mmm, baby please, don't, don't leave  
Just come and dance with me tonight_

They sang the chorus together, gazing into each others' eyes.

_I'll wear that dress if you wear that tie  
And baby we'll dance through the night  
Cause no-one's got what we've got going  
Happiness never held onto me until you helped me see  
That together we're just better off  
We're just better off_

Sam's strumming of the guitar slowed as he sang the next part, and the mood was dimmed.

_Don't be cruel to me  
Oh, I've wanted more  
But I've been wrong before_

Ben looked back at him comfortingly.

_So much learning to lose  
But you're not a day too soon_

They leaned into each other and continued.

_So say you feel the same and  
We'll never be lonely anymore_

The music cut abruptly, and the pair grinned. Sam reached out a hand and Ben took it with a giggle.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, New Directions!" Ben announced, and was met with a thundering applause. The entire audience was out of their seats clapping. Still holding hands, Ben and Sam turned back to face the rest of the glee club.

And gasped.

There, in the middle of the stage, was a TARDIS. The materialization had been perfect – nobody had noticed it arrive. Even still holding hands, Ben took a step forward. The door opened and two copies of him stepped out.

"I'm afraid this is where I crash the party," the White Guardian said, without any sign of truly caring on his face. Sam turned to look at his Ben – the one that he had just sung with.

"I don't want to lose you," he said simply.

"I don't want to go," was the reply. The Doctor winced, and Amy put a hand on his arm, not sure of what had been said that had made him upset. Ben finally disentangled his hand from Sam's and walked towards the White Guardian. "Is there absolutely nothing I can do?"

"Nothing I can think of."

"Well, maybe you just need someone to jog your memory." He turned to the other hologram of himself, who nodded, and they both charged at the stunned Guardian who, instead of falling upon impact, shuddered with the weight of the two aspects of the same Data Ghost entering the body it had stolen. Ben's eyes snapped open sharply, and a green glow shone outwards from them. He reached out a hand to hold onto Sam, who took it.

"Ben... are you in there?"

He nodded. "I'm so sorry," he said, his voice very deep, but faltering, and Sam felt a tug on his hand as Ben began to fall to the floor, his eyes slowly drooping shut.

"NO!" Sam yelled, gently catching him before he fell to the ground. "Wake up!"

* * *

Somewhere else entirely, Ben Spencer was about to face his toughest challenge yet.


	23. Something Dissimilar to 76 Totter's Lane

Wheeling his small overnight bag across the empty lobby, Ben Spencer made his way towards the check-in at the front desk. It was late, and he'd had a long flight – he just wanted to find a bed. Satisfied with the promptness of the staff at the hotel, he made his way not long after to the nearest elevator to get to his room, 76. He'd looked at the number on the card for a minute or two, trying to understand why it was puzzling him so much, but decided to ignore the instinct he had that something was off and just sleep.

Ben opened the door quietly, trying to ensure that he didn't disturb any of the other guests at the hour he'd arrived. It was late, and he probably wasn't the only one in the small hotel to be tired at that time. The room was small, but big enough. He placed his bag gently in the corner of the room, took out his toiletries and pyjamas and moved off into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

As he was brushing his teeth, he took a moment to appreciate the situation. At 24, he had already progressed far into the industry he'd finally chosen at the end of the year – he was a successful business consultant. He was here in... the name of the city escaped him now... Lima, that was it, Lima, because he was going to give a talk entitled 'Generating Leverage in Everything Entrepreneurial'. He'd done it so many times that he was beginning to find it just a little bit boring.

Family life had never really happened – he'd always let romance take a back seat, and never found someone who was right for him. Back in high school, there might have been someone... but whoever they were, he'd left them behind. Ben was thrown off kilter for a second – he'd not thought about any kind of romance in high school since... high school. He faintly remembered a dye-blonde mop of hair and a cute grin, but other than that, whoever Sam was was now a mystery to him. Sam...

He shook his head.

Not the time. Now, he was staying in another of those Totter's Yard hotels that he always stayed in when he visited America, and making some money on the side with these lectures. Finally finished preparing for bed, he flopped down onto the soft mattress and flicked on the TV, figuring that he might as well catch up with the news before calling it a night.

'The Wolf, it seems, is a very impressive predator. It stalks its prey, and'

He turned it off. For some reason, a documentary on wolves didn't seem to be appealing at this time – he had some kind of thing against them all of a sudden. Sighing, he rolled over under the covers and fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning Ben threw on some clothes and made his way down to the lecture hall, and proceeded to give an impressive hour long talk on establishing your own business, and doing it better than others. It was impressive to everyone else in the room, but, as he expected, just a little bit boring to him. He had never questioned the path that he had taken in life. Never.

Until he rounded the corner and almost noticed a tall, blonde teenager call his name. Almost, but not quite. That was when he knew that something was off. Walking into the lobby, about to leave the hotel for the night ("Just because hotel restaurants are convenient, doesn't mean that they're cheap or offer edible food," he'd once told someone sitting next to him on a plane), he noticed her. The blonde woman, sitting at one of the couches in the lobby, pretending she's not there because he is, reading some newspaper with the cover page headline of "LOOK OVER HERE, IDIOT". He walked over and took a seat next to her.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but have we met before?"

She raised an eyebrow and looked up from her newspaper, affording him her full attention. "I don't believe we have, but I did attend your lecture this afternoon."

"You did? You don't seem to be the type who would be interested in an entrepreneurial seminar, if you don't mind my saying so."

"Many people have made the mistake of thinking that I'm something far more innocent than I am. Don't make yourself one of them," she said coldly. "I was going to approach you later on in the evening, but seeing as you've noticed me now, I might as well come right out and say it – I'd like to poach you."

"Poach me?" he asked, aware of the term's meaning but still trying to establish a foothold on the conversation. The moment this woman started explaining her offer he'd be able to triple it and close with less hours and more time to relax... time he didn't know he wanted or needed.

"I want you to work for me. In Ireland."

"Ireland?"

"I'm aware that you're based in Australia at the moment, but I'd be happy to provide for you to move. My company is run in a sleepy town in Ireland, but don't underestimate me."

"The name of that sleepy town is...?" He really didn't care, but felt that the question needed asking.

"Kasterborous."

"I'm sorry, could you say that again?"

"Kasterborous. And the company is called Gallifrey." The pieces were clicking together a little faster now.

"Sorry, what did you say your name was?" She smiled, like she noticed the look in his eyes when he said it.

"Romana. Lady Romana."

Ben narrowed his eyes at her. "It isn't though."

"Isn't it?"

His confidence was returning – as quickly as his memories were. "Your name is either one of two things. Lady President Romanadvoratrelundar of the High Council of Time Lords."

She looked at him challengingly. "Or?"

"Or, it's the Red Guardian."

That was the moment the facade crumbled. They were still in a hotel lobby, Ben noted to himself, but there was nobody else there. It should have been easier to see through, but it wasn't.

"I was hoping you would understand soon enough."

"What was the point of creating this illusion, if only to make it obvious? I mean, come on, 76 Totter's Yard? And you even had me doing a conference on G.L.E.E. Obviously I'm ashamed that I didn't notice it sooner, but all the same…"

"It was a test. To see if you could break down barriers. To see if you were as good as he thought you were," she said, with a lift of her right eyebrow.

"Do you really understand what you've done?"

"I've not really done anything," the Guardian replied, coolly.

"It's not like those were all, I mean there was that documentary…" he paused when he noticed the confused look on her face. "The one about the wolf? And I even saw Sam a minute ago…"

The Red Guardian looked at him sincerely. "I didn't do anything about a wolf. And I didn't put Sam in here."

Ben shook his head. "Must have imagined it. Now, what's to become of me?" he asked, resigned.

"That's what we're all here to discuss."

"All of you?"

"No. The Gold Guardian… that part is complicated. But the other seven of us are here, now. Ready to discuss this."

"Lead the way."

* * *

They rounded the corner and walked into a grand hall with a big round table in it. The Red Guardian took her place at the head of the table, and Ben noticed a cage with a white cloud floating in it.

There were others around the table as well. The Azure Guardian was there, wearing Leela's body like it had when it came to McKinley with the Red Guardian. The Crystal Guardian wore the form of Martin Luther King (_"He had a dream, I suppose"_), whilst the Light and Dark Guardians wore white and black full bodied suits respectively, and their identities were hidden. The Black Guardian was there, in the form of the Master (_"the John Simm version. How very modern."_).

The Red Guardian slammed a gavel down, and the white cloud that was in the cage reformed into a copy of Ben, who slammed against the bars of the cage. "Let me go!" it roared, and Ben knew that it was the White Guardian.

"You will desist this charade of assuming the form of Mr. Spencer."

"You don't scare me – you're just an old woman now."

"Don't underestimate old women," Ben said, finding his voice. "They've got the ability to kill you just as well as anyone else."

"Please Mr. Spencer, sit here," she gestured, and a seat appeared next to her. He walked over and took it. The White Guardian formed back into the white cloud.

"Thank you. Now, I'd like to know, what is the point of this council? Can't you just tell me what's to be done and it be done?"

"It is rather simple," the Crystal Guardian conceded. "We've already made an agreement to let you go."

"There is the case of my Visionary," the Black Guardian said testily.

"Visionary?" Ben asked.

"Yes. A Visionary is –"

"With all due respect, I know what a Visionary is. I'd just like to know why you're asking about yours."

"Ah. Well, I allowed the Red Guardian access to one of the Visionary biometric patterns that I am privy to, as Guardian of Chaos –"

"Doesn't the Guardian of Order get Visionaries? Surely prophecy creates order."

The Black Guardian scoffed. "You would do well to speak only when spoken to. I'm finding your ramblings to be rather annoying. In any case, prophecies usually cause more harm than they do good – perfect realm for chaos. Now, as I was saying, the Red Guardian has one of my Visionaries. And I want it back."

"That Visionary is currently occupied," the Red Guardian said coolly.

"Where exactly is it?"

"I've used it as a filler – It will be returned soon."

"If you've already come to the decision to let me go, then why am I still here?" Ben asked, exasperated.

"We need your assistance," the Azure Guardian said. "We're all too involved to envision a punishment for the White Guardian."

"A punishment?"

"Well yes. The White Guardian has acted reprehensibly – and it is our job as guardians to teach it that it should repent for its actions and altogether learn how to be a better transcendental being."

The Guardian in question took Ben's shape again. "Like my little documentary, Spencer?" it sneered, egging him on.

"I shut it off," Ben replied, not conveying how confused he was. "I've never liked predators like wolves before. They give me the creeps."

"You're going to have to get used to living with one... living with the hunger. I found it on the Panopticon. Hiding in plain sight, you might say. Right under the noses of the people most capable of locking it away for good."

"You can't be serious," said the Red Guardian, testily.

"Oh yes," replied the White Guardian, teasing. "Inside of you is one of the four aspects of the Gold Guardian. The Wolf – life's very hunger for attention and physical affection. The hunger is personified in that aspect, and that's why I put it in you when I tried to take your body."

Ben took a moment to let it all sink in. "How do I get rid of it?"

"Unless you find another aspect of the Gold Guardian for it to merge with," the Red Guardian replied, "you'll be stuck with it forever. The Gold Guardian split itself into four after the Time War, unable to deal with the consequences of its actions. The end of that many lives was too much to bear. It hid the parts of itself all over the universe, and vowed never to be returned to full form again. Once you find another part of the Guardian, you can merge your two to become a half, and then both be free of it forever. Until then, you're going to have to control it. This is where you leave us."

"But where could I find another aspect?" he asked, standing up as the scene around him faded into darkness. The Guardians disappeared, all but one in a cage.

"You do know that the Wolf has the ability to create emotions in others as well. Create pheromones. Chemical reactions."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ben replied stubbornly.

"I think you do."

"Humour me, then."

"Sam. He doesn't love you – he feels what the Wolf made him feel. The moment you kiss anyone, the Wolf will show them what's inside of you. Do you think anyone will want to be with you after that?"

Ben just stared at him in silence.

"I didn't think so."

Suddenly, the blackness started to tremble. "What's happening?"

"You're being returned to your body – and I'm being returned to the Six-Fold Realm, where I belong. So long, Ben Spencer – you've won this round."

"You owe me," Ben teased.

"Not likely," the White Guardian said, fading from view. "Now close your eyes, click your heels together and think of home!"

Ben closed his eyes, wishing away the rumbling around him.

And then opened them again.

"This is going to be a bit tricky to explain."


	24. The Visionary and the Big Bad Wolf

Finn didn't think that pacing up and down the stage was such a great idea, but after Ben had fainted, he honestly didn't know what else to do. Sam had one of his hands, and the Doctor was holding onto the other, and Amy was gently stroking his hair, so there was no way he could comfort him. He noticed Sam whispering to Ben, slowly, softly and calmly. Like he was talking him awake. Stirring up the butterflies in his stomach, he walked over to the Doctor and tapped him on the shoulder. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I'm not sure." Finn frowned. "Although, there is a very good chance he'll be fine." Kurt and Blaine had come up to the stage to see if they could do anything to help – the Doctor had assured them, like he'd assured the rest, that they couldn't, and they were still there waiting. Just like everyone else was.

Most of the crowd from the Invitational had left. The Doctor had insisted on not disturbing Ben at all. That meant not moving him anywhere – even to a hospital. Finn had protested, but Sam had just held onto Ben's hand and stroked his arm. In shock. And without Sam's permission, for some reason, the Doctor wasn't going to do anything.

Which was pretty annoying for Finn, who cared about Ben just as much. If not more, in his opinion. He had no say, and if Sam thought it was a good idea that Ben rot in a hole, then that was what they would probably do.

It was starting to feel like that all the time with Sam – he was like Finn 2.0. Everyone seemed to like him better, and he had managed to get the guy that Finn wanted.

It was strange, because he hadn't even questioned the feelings when he'd started to feel them. He knew he was in love, and it scared him to think that he didn't care that he had feelings like that for another guy. Kurt would probably hit him over the head with his messenger bag if he knew Finn was capable of having feelings for another guy, but like, whatever. He didn't feel that way for Kurt, so it was different.

Wasn't it?

He rolled his eyes as Rachel walked up to him. "Are you okay?" she asked, and she seemed worried for him. In her own crazy, somehow-I'm-going-to-make-you-love-me-again, Rachel Berry way.

"Not really. I'm worried about him."

"It's natural to be worried about him. We all are, because we care about him. I know, let's sing a song about it!"

The entire glee club groaned.

"I'm serious! Everyone knows that talking to people in a coma can help them wake up, so maybe if we –"

"Wait," said the Doctor, and they all stopped. "That might not be such a bad idea." He let go of Ben's hand (perfect chance for Finn to take it, and he did), and put his hands on Ben's face. He closed his eyes, and hummed almost unnoticeably. His eyes opened in a flash and he took his hands off of Ben's face, slowly. "Now, Sam, you need to do what I just did."

Sam looked at him incredulously. "What?"

The Doctor tutted like it was no big deal. "Just put your hands on his face like this," he moved Sam's hands into position, "close your eyes, and think of him. Think of everything you like about him."

* * *

Sam closed his eyes and just felt around, thinking. Thinking of the way Ben smelled, the way he talked, the way he walked... the way he was. He suddenly felt the blackness in his mind taking shape, and noticed that he was in a hotel. He noticed a guy who had to be in his early twenties round the corner towards him... didn't he look a little like... "BEN!" he cried, but the man just ignored him. He suddenly felt himself being pulled upwards and opened his eyes.

* * *

"What was that?" Finn yelled at him, having just ripped him off of Ben, who he'd yelled at... in a coma.

"I was... I was in his mind. With him. I was there... he's in some kind of hotel."

"It's a fictional world inside of his head," the Doctor said calmly. "Someone has placed him in a different world. Mentally."

"It felt so real..." Sam trailed off as he noticed Ben's fingers start to twitch. "Look!" Finn let go of Ben's other hand in shock. Amy took a step back and walked over to Rory, who was standing next to the Doctor.

The Doctor took a step back, and they all gave Ben some space. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, but instead of eyes looking back at them, all they saw was an eerie green light inside eyeholes. He sat up slowly, his legs still extended. He swivelled his head to look at all of them in turn (though not in a creepy _Exorcist_ kind of way).

"I am the Visionary – I see all," a deep voice said from inside Ben's mouth, and Sam figured he'd had just about enough of voices coming from Ben that didn't belong to him.

The Doctor looked at it with wide eyes. "What do you see?" he asked, recognising it from the days when Gallifrey was around.

The Visionary looked at the Doctor, Amy and Rory. "I see the couple plummeting to the ground from the honeymoon suite... I see the Ghost of Christmas Past... I see the President of the United Sates... the woman of Song in a desperate hour... I see the Ood... I see the Time Lords... I see a good man lost... I see marriage... a wife... I see Idris... the pirate ship and the black spot... I see your future. It scares me." As if to illustrate its point, the Visionary shuddered.

It turned to Finn and stared him straight in the eyes. "I see you making a mistake you will forget to regret... being perfect because you will win votes."

Towards Kurt. "I see you practising with the love you sought for so long."

It looked at Santana. "I see you confessing the truth, and not liking where it takes you."

Puck. "I see you finding love in one who has run from you."

Rachel. "I see you soldiering on in solitude."

Mercedes. "I see you showing how original you truly are... the hell that you bring to the no." She made a look that was half confused, half about to laugh.

The Visionary stared at Will. "You will find new romance, but not with the one you seek."

Finally, it turned to Sam, and shivered. "Your future is broken and shaking... you will lose something that means your world... and you will forget that you have lost it. You will try again, but you are just a shield from pain. To everyone who pretends to care about you. Your world will explode... you will be in danger. So much danger... and yet you will not care. Love will guide you home, in the end." The Visionary's eyes closed slowly, and it leaned backwards, resuming the position Ben took before the Visionary had its moment in his body.

Everyone was watching him, and waiting patiently, as though he would wake up any minute. They were all sure that he would. Sam was holding his hand again, and this time Finn had beaten the Doctor to the other one. Sam put his hand on Ben's head and stroked his hair. Ben let out a long breath, and they all heard it. It was the first one they'd heard coming out of his mouth – his breathing had been so soft. He opened his eyes slowly, gingerly.

"This is going to be a bit tricky to explain."

Sam leaned down slowly, almost as if to kiss him, but Ben pulled away. Sam pretended to ignore it. "Are you okay?"

"Aside from the fact that I'm currently laid out down on a floor, and my head hurts a little, perfectly fine." He turned his head to look at Finn. "Your hand's a little clammy."

Surprised by the oddness of Ben's statement, Finn pulled back from the hand he'd been so desperate to grab onto just minutes before. "I was... just..."

"Relax, Finn. You were just trying to comfort me. I appreciate it." Finn beamed. "Now, I think I'd very much appreciate a hot cup of cocoa back home."

"Do you want me to stay over tonight? Make sure you're okay?" Sam asked, as he helped Ben to his feet.

"I'll be fine – I've got my big strong roomies to protect me!" he said, putting his hand around both Kurt and Finn's shoulders. He looked at Kurt for a moment. "Well, I've got one big strong roomie, and another one who's perfectly capable of making me feel better without the advantage of very developed muscles." He paused for a moment, as if taking in everything he'd just said. "Not that you don't probably have perfectly nice muscles, Kurt, it's just... oh. I'm rambling, aren't I." He looked to the Doctor to answer this, as though he expected him to have all the answers.

"Yes."

"Right. Well, we'd probably better get going. I'm exhausted." He let Finn and Kurt help him down from the stage.

"You'll be fine to get back to Westerville?" Kurt asked Blaine, almost halfway off the stage.

"Yeah. I got here fine, didn't I?"

"C'mon, Kurt!" Ben said, whining like a child. "I wanna go home!"

Kurt gave the Doctor a look that screamed 'Help me!' but only got a shrug in response. "He'll be fine and probably mortified in the morning."

As the trio left, Ben turned around and looked at the Doctor, and winked at Sam.

Both would go to their graves swearing that his eyes, for just a split second, were different.

His eyes were yellow.


	25. Who's the Badass?

The next morning, Finn woke up feeling a little groggy, but no less tired than he would do any morning. He noticed the bathroom door was closed, and Kurt's bed was empty. He walked over to the bathroom lazily and knocked on the door. "Kurt, c'mon! I need to get ready for school!"

"Kurt left about ten minutes ago," said the voice from the bathroom, and it took Finn a moment to put the pieces together.

"Ben, c'mon! I need to get ready for school!"

"You'll just have to wait a second," Ben replied, and Finn heard the sink run. The door opened and Ben stepped out.

He was wearing skinny jeans and a loose shirt, as well as a dark blue hoodie that Finn was sure he'd seen Kurt eyeing in Gap (when shopping trips with Kurt were that boring, he tended to remember details). He stood in Ben's way for a second, and was treated to an inquiring eyebrow in return. "Are you going to let me pass, or…"

"Umm, I kind of wanted to say that…" the eyebrow remained firmly raised. "You look, ummm, you look nice. Today." Finn himself was wearing a Power Rangers t-shirt and boxer shorts, so he didn't believe that the sentiment would be returned.

Instead, Ben just smiled. "Thank you. Now, I'm really hungry. Do you mind?" Finn nodded and moved out of the way. As soon as he was in the bathroom, Ben sighed. "This," he told nobody in particular, "might prove to be difficult."

* * *

Sam walked into school the next day both nervous and excited. He wasn't sure of what would become of him and Ben – the way he'd pulled away from their almost kiss made it clear to him that there was something wrong that Ben wasn't telling him. Probably to protect him.

The thing is, he didn't want to be protected. He wanted to be loved.

He'd never questioned the feelings that he had for Ben – they were there and he accepted them. Hey, maybe everyone had been right when they'd thought he was gay. Maybe he'd just missed something.

As he walked past the library (on his usual route to his locker), he noticed that there was nobody else there, and that there was only one person using one of the computers. He decided to walk in to see who it was and, lo and behold, it was Ben.

"Hey!" he went over to see what Ben was doing, and noticed he had a web page open – lyrics to a song. "What's The Wolf, by Miniature Tigers?"

The page shut quickly.

You moved up close, I could feel your sweat  
I kissed you on your neck and you got wet

"Nothing," Ben replied coolly. Just a song I was thinking about singing for glee club." Sam leaned towards him, and Ben tensed, moving his head up so that Sam managed to place a kiss on his neck. Sam looked up at him inquisitively. "Ummm... I have a cold."

He coughed.

Fakely.

"Okay..." Sam was a little confused (and a bit hurt) but decided not to show it. "Want me to walk you to your locker?"

"Why, how gentlemanly of you!" Ben said, gushing theatrically, and Sam put his arm out, which Ben entwined his with.

This was going to be a good day.

* * *

It was already lunch, and nobody had said a word to either Sam or Ben unkindly. It was suspicious to both of them, but they let it happen because they liked being left alone to bask in their happiness.

Everybody's looking at you like they want to

Ben made his way to his locker, and Sam leaned against it. "What?" he asked the football player, who was wearing an expression that was either contentment or wind.

"I just love that nobody's decided to try anything."

"Like that would work. They're all too afraid of –"

"I'm not that scary! I mean, I am kinda strong..." he took the opportunity to flex his bicep.

"I was going to say that they're afraid of me, dear."

Sam gave him a look.

"What? I can be pretty damn terrifying when I want to be."

"Yeah right." At that point, they were both greeted by the sight of one Noah Puckerman making his way towards them. "Hey, Puck," said Sam, still engrossed in their almost-argument.

"Hey dudes. Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, Puck. What's up?" Ben asked, slamming his locker shut.

Everybody's looking at you like they want to

"I was kinda wondering if I could talk to you... alone."

"I'm sure whatever it is you want to ask me you can ask with Sam around," Ben said.

"Not really..."

"Okay. Fine. Lead the way." As they started to walk off, Sam grabbed Puck's arm.

"If you even lay a –"

"Sam! It's fine. I've got this one," Ben said, pacifying his murderous boyfriend. Although flattered by the attention, he was kind of worried that Sam would punch Puck's lights out.

Everybody's looking at you like they want to  
Like they want to go home with you

They walked slowly into the janitor's closet. Puck turned the light on and shut the door. "I don't like you with that guy," he said, breaking the silence.

"I'm sorry?"

"I don't think he's good for you."

"Still not following you."

"You should break up with him."

"Whoa, whoa." Ben took a step back. "You want me to break up with Sam because **you** don't think he's good for me? Since when have you even talked to me? And since when do you think I want your opinion?"

Puck seemed taken aback by the numerous questions posed at him. "I... I like you better... with me."

"Sorry?"

"With me!" Ben was silent. "Since that time you kissed me... I couldn't stop thinking about you. Sure, maybe I wasn't as obvious as Blondie or the Big Friendly Giant –"

"The Big Friendly Giant?"

Puck just rolled his eyes. "I might not have been as obvious, but I still have kind of a thing for you."

"So, in other words, you want to get into my pants."

"Ummm..." he hadn't thought about that. "Maybe."

"This can very easily be solved," Ben said.

"Can it?"

"Certainly." With that, he pulled Puck into a kiss. The moment their lips met, Puck's mind was filled with images – wolves, corpses. Murders and death. It was horrifying, and he pulled away quickly. His eyes were wide, and he looked dazed. Any attraction he'd had for the new kid has clearly gone away. Ben's eyes blazed a brilliant yellow.

"Run along now, Puckerman." And he did.

Sam watched as Puck tore out of the janitor's closet, and sprinted down the hall faster than he'd ever seen him run in practise. He waited until Ben stepped out of the closet a moment later, and grabbed his arm. "Why did he run so fast?"

"Told you I had it."

The pair turned to walk into the cafeteria, and was greeted with the sight of Karofsky and Azimio, holding slushies. "Hasn't Evans here told you about the rules of McKinley, New Kid?" he sneered, confidently.

"As a matter of fact," Ben said, "he didn't need to." Without anyone noticing, Ben plucked the two slushies out of their hands in a flash. He handed one to Sam. "Thanks for these – I didn't expect anyone to buy me a slushy, though I did want to try one."

Karofsky looked at him stunned.

"Which rule were you referring to?" he asked innocently, as he took a sip of the slushy. Karofsky looked at Sam desperately – and he just took a sip of his and smirked too. He gathered up all of his confidence (since when did scrawny gay kids scare him?) and said:

"You can't just walk around here like fags all the time."

"I'm sorry, could you say that again?" Ben asked sweetly, twisting the topper of the slushy cup.

"I said, you can't just walk around here like fags all the time!"

"Like what?" Ben challenged, pulling the top off.

"LIKE FAGS!" As he finished shouting, he was met with a splash of ice cold on his face.

He, Karofsky, the biggest bully in the school, had just been slushied. It was embarrassing, to say the least.

Sam was laughing his ass off, and took Ben's hand. "Let that be a lesson to all of you," Ben told the pair of bullies. "Nobody messes with me or my boyfriend and gets away with it."

They walked over to the trash can, and Ben threw the empty slushy cup in the bin. "Such a shame," he told his boyfriend. "It didn't taste half bad." Sam offered his straw, but Ben shook his head. "You enjoy, sweetheart. Now, who's the badass?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "You're the badass," he volunteered begrudgingly.


	26. Departures and Diva Offs

Sam had just finished practise and was walking into the choir room when he was tapped on the shoulder. "Dude, we need to talk."

Finn pulled him down the hallway and into the male restroom. He had no idea what Finn wanted – but the fact that he'd needed to speak privately spoke volumes. In glee club, everything was about making a scene and being noticed. Nobody did anything secretly.

Which was why he found himself just a little bit nervous. Even though Finn was mostly a stuffed teddy bear in a teenager's body (Ben's comparison, not his), he had a reputation for flipping out when the goings got tough.

The moment they got into the bathroom, Finn crossed his arms and glared at Sam, who attempted to look confident in response.

To the best of his knowledge, he failed miserably.

Finn, on the other hand, was the epitome of collectedness (even though on the inside he had butterflies and his brain was trying to work faster than it had been built to).

"So, sup?"

"Ummmm..."

The wisdom kept flowing.

"Dude, you cool?"

"Well..."

"Seriously, what's up?"

"Look, it's just..." Sam looked at him with a face that practically screamed 'go on, I dare you', but everyone in McKinley knew who wore the pants in his relationship, even Finn, so there wasn't much of an intimidation factor. Finn just didn't know how to broach the subject.

Maybe he should have gone to Ben?

No. Not a great idea. He'd have probably done things he wouldn't live to regret.

"I think I'm in love with your boyfriend."

Sam's mouth went slightly agape. He blinked a few times. Then he looked up at Finn and smirked. "Sucks to be you then, don't it."

He turned to walk away, and Finn grabbed onto his shoulder harshly and pulled him back around.

"What is your problem?"

"Don't you get it?" Finn asked, exasperatedly. "I love him. You... I just..."

"You think I don't love him too?" That shut up the big lummox. "I'm the one he chose – deal with it."

"Well, he never actually chose, seeing as he doesn't know how I feel."

"I don't think you know how you feel either."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know what it means, Finn!"

"No! I don't!"

"I think you're confused," Sam said slowly. "And you're jealous. And you don't know what's going on in your head so you think you're in love with him."

"That's total bull!"

"Would you fight me for him?"

"If I had to." At that, Sam began to glare. "Didn't expect me to say yes, did you? I would fight you and anyone else who got in my way if it meant that I could be with him." Sam was still silent. "What's the matter? Afraid of getting your pretty face smashed in?"

"Let's do this the only way we really can do it," Sam said reasonably.

"And that would be?"

Sam smirked.

* * *

Ben walked into the choir room, ready for glee. Everyone was there and ready to start rehearsal. He noticed a big blue box next to the piano, and the Doctor, Amy and Rory filing in. He tugged on the Doctor's coat sleeve. "Don't think you're getting away that easy," he said, grinning.

"We've got to run," the Doctor said, rubbing his neck. "Important business and all that."

"Important business my rear," Ben said mockingly.

"You know how the Doctor is – terrible at goodbyes," said Amy.

"I do. But, there I went hoping that I could be the exception."

"There is something I will do to make you feel special, though," the Doctor said, pulling out a small slip of paper with a phone number on it. Ben slipped it into his pocket. "If you ever find that... that you need to leave... just call. I'll fix everything."

Ben nodded. "Thank you. For everything. I only wish we could have met under less... chaotic circumstances."

Amy and Rory chuckled.

"Strike that," he said. "This is probably the best that I could have hoped for. In all honesty, I don't think I'd have done it any other way."

At that moment, Sam and Finn walked into the choir room, big grins on their suddenly infantile faces. "What are you too so happy about?" Ben asked suspiciously. He noticed that his boyfriend had an atrocious purple piece of clothing on, and sighed. "I mean c'mon, Sam, a Bieber hoodie? That prompts tears, not laughter."

Sam proceeded to actually laugh for a second, before smiling.

"Well, I think we'd better take this as a cue to get going," the Doctor said, practically bouncing into the TARDIS. "Seeya!" he called from inside.

Amy walked over to Ben and gave him a light kiss on the cheek, smiling. "You be careful," she said.

"The idea that I wouldn't be... I'm shocked, Mrs. Pond."

"That's Mrs. Williams," Rory corrected, offering out a hand.

"That's not going to open up and turn into a plastic gun on me, is it?" Ben asked teasingly. He took the hand and shook it vigorously. "Nice to meet you," he told the couple, who walked back into the TARDIS hand in hand.

"Be careful!" Ben yelled, as the ship dematerialized. "And don't go off doing anything stupid!"

With the goodbyes taken care of, he turned around to face Sam and Finn, who were still grinning. He gave them both a playful whack on the arm. "Don't think I've forgotten about you two. Come on, spill."

"We're probably going to need to ask Mr. Schue about it first," Sam said resolutely.

"Is that so?" he moved closer to Sam, and started to rub his arm. "You could always just tell me..." he flashed a puppy dog look Sam's way (which he was having difficulty resisting but, it was for his own good).

"Yeah, sorry." Ben looked disappointed.

"You'll be here when we ask, though, if that makes up for it..." Finn said.

"Well, I'm just not keen on being ambushed. How do you know I'm going to like it?"

"I think you'll definitely rise to the occasion," Sam said, with a grin on his face.

It's a shallow treat, for a guy like me

At that point, Mr. Schuester strolled into the choir room. "Right guys, I think we can all agree that our Invitational was, without a doubt... amazing!" the entire room applauded.

Finn put up a hand. "Mr. Schue, if it's okay, Sam and I have to say something." Mr. Schue nodded, and the pair walked up to the front of the class.

"Well, as you know, we're both in glee club, and we both know how arguments are solved here," Sam said. "A diva-off."

Ben snorted. "You're having a diva-off?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Kind of," said Finn. "I thought we agreed it was just a sing off..." he whispered to Sam, who shrugged.

"And what exactly are you arguing about?" Ben asked, worried that he knew where this was going.

"You," they both said. Ben closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.

"Let me understand you. You're having a sing off and you think that the winner gets me?"

They both nodded blankly, obviously unaware of what they were actually suggesting.

"Did someone drop you on your heads when you were babies?"

They both looked taken aback.

"At least they're not punching each other's lights out," Mercedes offered.

"True, but neither of you actually knows how to provide sub-standard romance. How about this," he said patiently. "Seeing as you're so intent on fighting over me, and don't complain because you brought it upon yourselves, then I'm going to make the rules."

Neither football player liked where this was going.

Ben stood up, and motioned for them to sit down.

"Rule number one – duets. I'm not going to be with someone who can sing a song alone; the point is who can be better with **me** behind them. So you're going to have to sing a duet with me.

"Rule number two – I'm the only judge that matters. If I say you win, you win. If I say you lose, you lose. End of story.

"And finally, the most important rule of all, rule number three – the most important one of all. No boyfriends."

Both boys raised an eyebrow at that.

"You heard me. Seeing as you're so intent on fighting over me, neither of you is allowed to be my boyfriend whilst the competition is going on." Sam pouted comically. "Pout all you want, I'm not letting up. That also means no physical contact with me, no extreme displays of affection (unless you take me on a date, which nobody has had the gall to do), and no presents. No couple-y stuff until one of you wins. Understood?"

Neither of them looked happy with the arrangement. Ben walked over and ruffled both of their heads.

"Right," said Mr. Schue, taking back the floor. "With that in mind, let's get into Regional preparations!"

Rachel stood up. "You know guys, I think we should –"

They all made a collective groan.


	27. The Eyes of the Wolf

Ben sat down with a smug look on his face – neither of his potential suitors had even considered that he wouldn't be thrilled with the idea that a sing off could win his heart. Opting to torture them further by sitting away from both of them, he moved and sat next to Brittany. She turned and gave him a smile as Mr. Schue started droning about Regionals again. Then she said something... odd.

"How do you get your teeth like that?"

His eyebrows knitted together and his eyes narrowed. "My teeth like what?" he asked nervously.

"You know, all pointy." He ran a finger across a tooth. "Ooh! What did you do with your eyes?"

"My eyes?"

"They're yellow! I think that's so cute."

He shut his eyes and lips tight. Turning to the front, he bolted out of the classroom. At least, that was what he intended to happen. Instead, he ran into the piano and fell. Opening his eyes, he then sprinted straight for the men's bathroom.

"You okay?" he heard the voice call from inside the cubicle, and snapped his eyes open. He'd been sitting there for the past ten minutes meditating and trying to get rid of the wolf (and by the sounds of it, if he walked out to check, it didn't really matter).

Opening the door of the cubicle, he raced to the mirror and opened his mouth wide, checking his teeth to see if they were still pointed, and noticed that his eyes were back to their natural brown. Fixing his hair, he turned to see Puck, who had come to check on him.

"Just peachy, Puckerman. Your concern is duly noted."

"What was that? Why did you run?"

"Someone decided to pay a visit, and I wasn't prepared for it. So I panicked. It always happens when I get too assertive or aggressive – I can only hide the wolf for so long."

"The wolf?"

"It's... it's a part of me. An entity inside me... I need to go, Puck." He turned to leave but Puck just stood in his path.

"Do you love either of them?"

The question was so surprising that Ben didn't know how to answer. "I... I don't know."

"Why don't you just do to them what you did to me?" he said, and his voice didn't display any malice – he was genuinely asking a question. He knew what was happening. At least, partially, he understood.

"Because..." he took a deep breath. "Because I'm afraid they would blame me."

"Blame you? Why?"

"I led them on. I'm keeping up this charade... they'll figure it out. If I kiss them and they don't love me back, then who says it's not my fault? Who says I didn't do it on purpose?"

"It's pretty obvious that you're not doing this on purpose, dude."

"To you, maybe, but to either of them?"

"Look, I'm not going to get in the middle of what you have going. But, I think you should be careful. This whole thing you've got going could collapse at any second. You need to be ready."

"Thanks for caring, but..." he looked Puck right in the eyes. "I need to handle this on my own."

Puck felt a little dizzy, and just slowly nodded. He knew that was the right way of handling it – he didn't need to get involved. "Sure, yeah. You're right, I guess."

"We're all cool?"

Puck nodded. "Yeah. All cool."

Ben was confused – Puck looked ill all of a sudden. "Are you okay? Do you need to see the nurse? You're looking pale."

Puck simply walked away very slowly, looking strange and abstracted.

"Puck?"

There was no answer as the self-proclaimed badass left the bathroom. Ben shrugged, washed his hands under the cold water of the sink and made his way back to where he'd parked the TARDIS. After the day's drama, he was happy to be on his way home.

That evening, as Ben was sitting at his desk writing in a journal he'd found in the TARDIS, he felt a large pair of hands on his shoulders. No matter how nice they felt, he'd still turned around and told Finn to go back to his bed.

"But why?" Finn protested. "You know you liked it."

"Maybe I did. But I'm a man of my word – I set those rules and I'm sticking to them." He looked Finn right in the eyes and shot him what he hoped was his most intimidating glare. "As are you."

Finn nodded absently and unprotesting, strangely enough. That was the second time that had happened to him today – it was starting to get a bit creepy.

"Finn, are you okay?"

Another committed nod, still betraying as much emotion as before. Ben shook his head. The wolf was obviously a lot more persuasive than he'd thought – and that scared him. Keeping in mind to be careful, he gave Finn a light shove on the shoulder, and Finn shook his head. Ben sighed a sigh of relief as what looked like some semblance of life was shaken back into him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Keep to the rules, I know."

The next day, Sam was waiting for Ben at his locker. "Hey," he said grinning.

"Are you trying to be sexy? Because you kind of look constipated."

"Thanks," Sam replied sarcastically. "Don't you think it's a bit dark for sunglasses?"

Ben was wearing a pair of white framed sunglasses on his face, with completely dark lenses – tinted so that his eyes were completely concealed. "I like the darkness."

Sam just shrugged. "When are we going to work out our duet?"

"I have a few songs in mind, but I don't know when. It's not like I really have a social life, so it's up to you."

"How about we discuss it over dinner?"

Ben did a double take. "Dinner?"

"Yeah. An actual date. You were obviously upset about it before, so I figure you could come to my place on Saturday, say around seven?"

"At your house? What about your family?" his heart rate was rising.

"My family's going to be out. Dad's taking Mom on a hunting trip, and my brother and sister have both made arrangements to be occupied for the evening," he said, in a way that made Ben think that he'd had something to do with it.

"I guess if you want to..." he said, feigning indifference.

Sam laughed, and walked him down the hall to class.


	28. Perfect Smiles and Destructive Kisses

They'd agreed on eight o'clock, so Sam wasn't surprised when his doorbell rang at 7:59. He'd been sitting in the kitchen waiting – the entire house was clean (he'd made sure of it), he'd (cleverly) bought out and put it on the plates, made the kitchen look a little used so he could possibly lie about having cooked, and he'd changed clothes about five times in order to get it just right. In the end, he'd settled with wearing a v-neck (emphasis on the v) and some tight-ish jeans.

As he walked to the door to answer it, he noticed the wind whipping up next to him, and heard the familiar groaning noise that signalled the arrival of Ben's TARDIS. He stepped out in all his glory – somehow managing to keep casual and classy contained in the one outfit. He was wearing skinny jeans (lighter ones that Sam's) and a plain dark blue shirt, with a gray jacket hugging his arms and sides. His shoes were high top, all black Converse.

Sam gaped.

"Like what you see, huh?" Ben gestured top to bottom.

Panicking, Sam replied with, "You could have knocked or something."

Ben shrugged and walked back into the ship, and it dematerialized. Sam shook his head – why did he have to be so stupid? He just had to say something nice about what he was wearing, make some... his train of thought was disrupted by the doorbell ringing again, twice. He'd forgotten to answer the door.

When he opened it, however, he soon understood. "You'll go pretty far to make a point, won't you."

Ben just smiled as he walked inside the house. "I should think so."

The pair sat down at the table, and had a lovely dinner. They talked about their mutual interests ("So you're into Voyager?" "Definitely. It was like Voyager had so much more of a purpose than the other Star Treks...") to disinterests ("I swear, every time she opens her mouth, we all want to strangle her." "Poor thing. She is talented, but she just doesn't know anything about appropriate behaviour... or how to dress unlike a toddler librarian mashup...") and even things they didn't know about each other ("My favourite movie from when I was a kid? Anastasia. Best musical ever. I still love that movie." "I was always too busy reading superhero comics." "Were you now...").

The evening was going well, and Sam smiled at Ben brightly. They definitely had chemistry, even though neither of them was really sure of themselves. "So, I cooked well?" Sam asked, grinning.

"I saw the take-out boxes in the garbage bin outside. You could have tried much harder, Evans."

They both laughed. "I don't really want tonight to end."

"Nor me. How about we go and make it a bit longer?"

"What do you have in mind?"

Ben took Sam's hand, and led him outside. They locked the door, and walked into the TARDIS. "I'm going to make this a night you're never going to forget." The door shut, and the TARDIS slipped out of its former position.

I'll take you on a cruise to somewhere nice  
You haven't been before

Their destination?

Unclear.

Their intention?

A getaway. An escape from reality.

And that was exactly what they got in each other.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the TARDIS re-materialized inside Sam's house. Sam was now wearing a tuxedo, and had red paint smeared on his face in lines across his cheeks like he had been in a battlefield. Ben stepped out wearing a grey, futuristic jumpsuit. They hugged each other, laughing maniacally.

"Where are we now?" Sam asked, looking around.

"You're kidding, right?" Sam just goggled at him, clueless. "We're at your house, Sam. Jeez, we were only gone for about three days."

"Three days?" Sam asked, snapping back into reality.

"Look at the kitchen clock, doofus," and he did. "We've been gone for like twenty minutes. For us, it's been three days."

"How did we fit all that in three days?"

"A better question is how did we fit all that into twenty minutes?" They both giggled.

"I think that was the best first date I've ever had, bar none."

"Me too," Ben said, and they both beamed at each other. He reached out a hand, and Sam took it.

Sam pulled him closer. "Are we finally going to do this?"

Ben nodded. "Screw that damn wolf."

Sam furrowed his eyebrows. "Wolf?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

And he did. And it was magical – like nothing either of them could have imagined. Their lips melded together perfectly, and their hands held each other's backs. Ben's hands moved upwards, holding onto Sam's hair, almost tugging it, yet stroking it gently. Sam moved his hands up to Ben's cheeks, and they kissed each other deeper. There were fireworks, and sparks flew between them. They were both so engrossed in each other; they didn't notice the small clinking noise at the door. Didn't notice the keys turning. Didn't hear the door open.

What they did hear, however, was the sound of the keys hitting the floor when they were dropped.

They both turned their heads quickly, separating from each other like a shot of electricity.

Sam's parents stood in the doorway, staring at them.

Add nice  
Sugar and spice

"Hi." Ben squeaked. He walked over to them, bursting with energy. "My name's Ben Spencer, and it's nice to meet you." He grabbed Sam's mother's hand with both of his, and shook it ferociously, and then did the same with Sam's father. "Great to meet you, so nice. Ummm..." he turned quickly. "I'll probably see you tomorrow. Probably." He said to Sam, and then bolted into the TARDIS. The ship dematerialized faster than normal.

Sam was left with his parents. He gulped. "That was... he was..."

"Very excited," Sam's father supplied.

"He did seem nice, though," Sam's mother said, as she began to move the spoils of their hunting trip into the kitchen.

"Wait, so you're fine with this?" Sam asked.

"If he makes you happy," Sam's mother said to him, pinching his cheek in that way that she just loved doing, "Then he makes us happy." Sam beamed. "Just don't forget you need to give me grandchildren."

"MOM!"

* * *

The TARDIS materialized into the bedroom that Ben shared with Finn and Kurt, the former spread across his bed, reading over the plays he'd need to cover as quarterback for the next big game. His head shot up when he heard the noise of the TARDIS appearing.

Ben stumbled out of the ship, and collapsed onto his bed. He was wearing a silver-grey jumpsuit and looked ridiculous.

"Dude, are you okay?"

"Peachy," came the mumbled-into-a-pillow reply from Ben.

"What happened?" Finn asked, getting off of his bed and moving closer.

"I met Sam's parents, that's what happened." He sighed. "We had the most amazing date ever. We went in the TARDIS to the past, and the future. On a little trip, just to have some fun. And then we got back, and I kissed him, and –"

"Whoa, you kissed him?"

"Ummm..." his face went red. "Yeah."

"Dude, you totally broke the rules." Ben gave him a look that screamed 'ARE YOU SERIOUS? NOW!', and Finn shook his head. "Sorry, not the time. However..."

"However what, Finn?"

"If you're going to kiss Sam, you kind of need to even out the playing field."

"It's uneven already, Mr. Gangly Teen. We had a date. He asked me on a date. It was amazing."

"Well, it's not fair. I should be given the chance to prove that I'm a better kisser."

"I've seen the way you kiss. It honestly looks like you're sucking on a lemon and –" he was interrupted by Finn's lips meeting his.

The guy you know thinks he's so slick

This, however, was different to the kiss he'd experienced before. Yes, he did lean into it, because he was feeling weak (terrible excuse, but still the truth) and because Finn was kind of adorable, but the way Finn was kissing him... every second was like he was searching for something that Ben didn't seem to have. He finally pulled away.

"I don't..."

Ben looked up at him, realising his mistake.

He'll kiss you on the lips but he'll get sick  
Lothario: he's a creep you know

"Finn, I'm so –"

"What was that?"

"What?"

"What did you do?" his voice was rising in volume. "Why did I do that?"

"Because –"

"NO! Don't lie to me!"

"You want the truth?" Ben yelled back indignantly. "You really want the truth?"

"YES!"

"THE DAMN WOLF MADE YOU, OKAY?"

"What the hell is the wolf, anyway?" Finn grabbed onto Ben's arms forcefully.

"Get off of me!"

"No! You're going to explain to me right now what's been going on." He squeezed tighter on Ben's arms, making him yelp.

"The White Guardian wanted you all to like me, so it put the damn Wolf in me!"

"That's bull! You did something!" Finn threw him across the room, and he fell to the floor in a heap.

As he tried to get up, however, he felt a weight on him, keeping him down. Finn pushed his arms above his head, and pushed down with his legs with enough pressure to crush them, and rendered him immobile.

"Is this what you wanted?" Finn asked, kissing him lightly on the neck, but soon biting hard. He took the zipper of the jumpsuit between his teeth and brought it down, biting across Ben's chest and leaving marks.

"Please don't," Ben quietly pleased, but Finn only pushed harder against his wrists, ensuring that they bruised. Suddenly, he pulled Ben up by his arms, almost tearing them out of the sockets, forcing him to stand up straight even as his knees threatened to buckle under him. He started hitting him in the stomach, and Ben winced and fell to the ground again.

Finn, however began kicking him in the stomach. "THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME, DIRTY FAG!" Tears ran down Ben's cheeks, and as Finn trailed off, putting all his energy into kicking Ben in the stomach. He was in a blind rage, and suddenly, there was a knocking at the door.

"Finn? Ben? Is everything okay?" Ben recognised Kurt's voice from the other side of the door.

"Please, Finn... please."

"NO!" He continued hitting him, and suddenly the door to the basement swung open and Kurt ran downstairs, taking in the scene in front of him.

"FINN HUDSON! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" He shoved Finn away and Ben ran into the corner of the room, curling himself into a ball. Kurt glared at Finn again, whose face was pale. "Well? What did you do?"

"He... he made me... he made me like him."

"What?"

"He made me fall in love with him!" Finn protested weakly, and Kurt just looked at him.

"What is it with you? Can't you just get over yourself long enough to realise that not all gay guys are out there to convert and molest you?" He walked over to Ben, who recoiled at his touch as he began to stroke his back.

"It's not like that," Finn said, "he really made me love him."

Kurt raised an eyebrow in that way he did when something just **wasn't** true. "Sure he did. That's about as likely to have happened as you sleeping in this house tonight."

"What?" Finn asked, completely perplexed.

"You heard me. Get out of this house, Finn. You can't stay here. Not when I know the truth about what you REALLY feel."

"But Kurt, I –"

"SAVE IT FOR MY DAD, FINN. JUST LEAVE!" he yelled, and Finn picked up a few pieces of clothing and scampered off, terrified.

Kurt turned back to Ben, who was still sobbing in a heap in the corner. "C'mon, let's get you into bed."

He helped him up, supporting him on his weak legs where Finn had all but crushed them, and lay him down gently in his bed. He stroked his hair gently, not affectionately, but sympathetically.

"Try to get some rest," he told Ben, who clutched his hand tightly as he tried to walk away. "It's okay, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Ben's eyes closed softly, as he drifted off to what would be a fitful sleep.


	29. Alesamdro, Finnando and Puckerto

The stage is touched by a soft breeze, and the lights slowly turn on, revealing a long, plush leather chair. Ben is on one end, and Sam is on the other.

Ben extends and arm, and says softly, "_I know that we are young, and I know that you may love me, but I just can't be with you like this, anymore, Alesamdro._"

The backup dancers are revealed by the lights at the back of the stage, and they begin to spin and whirl, gyrating madly and thrusting into each other. Ben gets up and Sam pulls him towards him, attempting to force him, but Ben opens his mouth and begins singing.

_She's got both hands  
in her pocket  
And she won't look at you, won't look at you_

Finn and Puck join the pair on the stage, and they both put a hand on Ben, who holds himself.

_She hides true love  
En su bolsillo  
She's got a halo 'round her finger  
Around you_

He turns to look at Sam, and holds his hand.

_You know that I love you boy,  
Hot like Mexico, rejoice  
At this point I've gotta choose  
Nothing to lose_

Breaking away, he runs to the front of the stage, not looking at any of the boys watching him.

_Don't call my name, Don't call my name  
Alesamdro  
I'm not your babe, I'm not your babe  
Finnando_

_Don't wanna kiss, don't wanna touch  
Just smoke my cigarette and hush  
Don't call my name, don't call my name  
Puckerto_

The three all reach out their arms, pulling him in, strangling him in their strong grip.

"_Stop, please,_" he pleads, "_just let me go. All of you, just let me go."_

He walks towards the front of the stage, and notices that there is only an abyss after it. The world stops at the end of the stage, and he is at the very edge. All he has to do is take a step forward and it's all over. Reaching a foot over the –

* * *

Ben's eyes shot open, and he gripped tight onto Kurt's hand. A tear fell down his cheek and he gently sobbed. "It's okay," Kurt cooed, "it was just a bad dream."

He sat up, taking in his surroundings. "I... I know. It was completely ridiculous, but it showed me what I have to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I need to go and find at least one of the other..." he looked up at Kurt, who raised an eyebrow.

"Other what?"

"The other aspects of the Gold Guardian. I'm going to take the TARDIS and find one, and then I... I don't know. Probably leave."

"Where do you find an... aspect of the umm Gold Guardian?"

Ben laughed. "Wherever I can, I guess. But there's probably one very close."

"Huh?"

"Remember when we played the ringtone for Finn?"

"Yeah..."

"And you didn't feel entranced AT ALL."

"Yeah..."

"Want to know why?"

Kurt paused. "Yeah."

"Because, like me, you're harbouring an aspect of the Gold Guardian."

They both paused.

"What? That's ridiculous!"

"That's what I thought, until I actually thought about it." He looked up at Kurt, and really looked at him. "You've got so much patience, so much tolerance… that comes from somewhere deep. Not just from inside of you personally, but also from inside of something keeping you sane."

"What even is the Gold Guardian in the first place?"

"The Gold Guardian, like the White, Black, Light, Dark, Crystal, Azure and Red Guardians, is a Guardian of Time, from the Six-Fold Realm. Its specific purpose was to watch over life, to guard its sanctity.

"When all of the Guardians banded together, formed the Six-Fold God, and ended the Time War, they were all affected emotionally. The Gold Guardian was the only one who really did something in protest to all of the suffering.

"It split itself up into four, and scattered the parts across time and space. One of those aspects, the Wolf, who represented the passion and the fire and the emotion and pure carnal instincts of life, ended up in the Panopticon, on the Doctor's home world, Gallifrey. The White Guardian found it and put it in me.

"Another, one I've only heard of in legends, was called the Hourglass. The Hourglass was the solidity of life – its ability to be proud of itself and never back down. Be strong, and hold fortitude and understanding.

"That part of the Gold Guardian," he said, moving his hand over Kurt's heart, "lives here."

A small tear fell down Kurt's cheek slowly. "What… what happens now?"

"If you want, I can get rid of it. I can use it to take both of our aspects and join them, letting them go off and find the other half of the Gold Guardian. Or, you keep it, and I go off and find another one."

"What happens to me if I let it go?"

"Well, that's up to you." Kurt gave him a perplexed look. "Either you can let yourself believe that the Hourglass was the only thing making you strong inside, or you can choose to believe that the strength inside of you comes from you."

Kurt nodded. "I…"

"It's okay. You don't have to let it go."

"I think I need to."

Ben nodded. "Take my other hand." He did as asked. "Now close your eyes, and think about what is inside of you, inside of your mind. Think with your heart. Think about…"

Ben's voice trailed off as Kurt felt a presence he'd been only almost aware of for a long time. He could tell that the Hourglass was there, but he'd never spoken to it – it had never been tangible before. Nothing that he was capable of communicating with.

Somehow, with Ben's help, he had managed to poke and prod right at it in the exact right place.

At that moment, it was like… it was like he managed to speak to the Hourglass without communicating through words or thoughts. It was like the Hourglass told him feelings and expressed them, showing him how he didn't need it to be strong when he was younger, and didn't need to now.

His eyes shot open and he fell forward onto the bed, feeling the rush of the Hourglass shoot out of his body. The feeling of emptiness that followed was slowly ebbing away, and he turned to look up.

There, watching over him and Ben, was a big bear.

"You were brave to hold us," the Bear told them.

"Where will you go now?" Ben asked, and Kurt couldn't even understand how he'd managed to pull a coherent thought together after that experience.

The Bear sniffed up in the air. "There is a trail, a scent. We can follow it and find the rest to pull together into the Gold Guardian once more."

Ben nodded, and the Bear began to shimmer and fade. "Take care without us. The world will be very different."

The new beginning for both Kurt and Ben had begun.


	30. I'm Coming Home

The entire Glee club was assembled that Monday, and was waiting for Ben to arrive, when Rachel stood up. "I, for one, think that we need to get on with our preparations for Regionals, and should probably stop waiting."

"Just give him a minute, Rachel," Sam said. "He'll be here soon."

"I think that if he's going to be late it's his own fault," she shot back.

"What is your problem?"

Rachel went quiet.

"She's scared." Mercedes said quietly.

"Scared? Scared of what?"

"She's scared that whoever wins that duet competition of yours will have the chance to do a duet at Regionals, and she already missed out on any solos at Sectionals."

"Well," a voice came from the door. "That's sweet, but you've got nothing to worry about."

A teenage boy walked into the choir room, carrying two large suitcases. He was dressed from head to toe in black, wearing tight black jeans, black high top Converse shoes and a black long sleeved top. He had a tight black jacket over his front and a black scarf around his neck.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Schuester said, "this is a closed rehearsal. Who are you exactly?"

The boy looked confused for a moment, and then nodded. "Right. Sorry, forgot." He gestured to his face. "This is all different, huh." He set his suitcases down next to the piano.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked. "It's exactly the same as it was two days ago."

Everyone turned to look at him. "You know who he is?" Rachel asked.

"You don't?" Sam asked in reply.

"Why are you wearing all black? You look like you've come from a funeral," Santana teased.

He looked down at his clothes, as if he couldn't remember what he had on, and then shot her a glare in reply. "Well, the next time you're at a shopping village on the Magellan Gestalt mountains, and you happen to be right in the middle of the seventh Hyperborean Byzantine Empire, and they've just had that particularly gruesome massacre - you know, the one with the pen-knife - and the funeral procession is coming down the streets, and you need to find something to wear quickly, and you want to cover up the... and you want it to be appropriate, you try telling me to wear orange."

Brittany looked at him like nothing went in her brain from that. She pointed to a necklace that he was wearing. "Your necklace is really nice."

"Thanks, Brittany."

She took Santana's arm and pointed at said piece of jewellery. "See, it's like from that movie Anastasia, it says –"

"Together in Paris," Sam finished.

"Seriously, how do you know that?" Finn asked, exasperated.

"I know that because I was there when he used a stray credit card to buy it. We hunted for it across an entire continent."

"This, of course," the other boy told them, "was after we went to see Anastasia back in cinemas in 1997. We had to, because I just love that movie."

"And I bought him that ring on his left hand –"

"The jade one – "

"Forged from the – "

"Heart of a dwarf star –"

"In the –"

"Centre of the –"

"Itresian Spiral Galaxy!"

"Ha! I knew you'd remember the name," the other boy said.

"You drilled it into me so hard there was no way I could forget," Sam said, smiling.

"Wait... you're Ben." Brittany said suddenly.

"What brings you to that conclusion, my dear?" the boy in question asked sweetly.

"Well, you look like him, and also, you and Sam have that couple thing going on like you did before you told him to stop touching you."

Ben simply smiled in reply.

"How come I'm the only one who could recognise you?" Sam asked.

"Beats me. However, now that you're aware of my true identity, it's only appropriate that I come to bear the message I intended to."

Everyone listened in keenly.

"I've come to say goodbye."

"What?" Sam yelled. "What do you mean goodbye?

"Great. Now we only have eleven members again for Regionals," Rachel whined.

Finn just shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hadn't been home since Saturday night.

"I can't stay here, you guys."

Sam jumped out of his seat, and tried to hold Ben, tried to touch him, but Ben pulled away, and Sam's arm got caught on his scarf. The scarf unravelled faster than Ben could catch it, falling to the ground. Everyone gasped when they saw the sight on his neck – bruises all over. All down the sides, harsh, and obvious.

Ben looked into Sam's widened eyes. "What?" he asked, unaware of the sight they were all so shocked by. Sam pointed a finger at his neck, and he realised. Hurriedly picking the scarf off of the floor, he said a mumbled "I have to go, I need to leave."

"What happened to you?" Sam asked, and turned Ben to face him. "Who hit you?"

"I..." he turned to look at Finn sharply. "I'd rather not say. It's not very fair."

"Not fair? What's not fair is that somebody hurt you. Don't run away from this, let us help you. Let me help you."

"Ben, if somebody's hurt you, you should tell us," Mr. Schuester told him.

Ben considered this for a moment, before shutting his lips tight and shaking his head. "I can't. I'm sorry." He walked over to where his suitcases were left before. "I called the Doctor last night, asked him to organise transport for me. Turns out the Guardians left me with an exit clause, so that I could leave if I needed to.

"Of course, after I lost the wolf, Kurt and I went on a bit of a shopping trip across the universe – my god my stamina was tested. I mean he can shop more than I can! That's saying something...

"Anyway, back to what I was saying. We went shopping, because I wanted to make use of the time I had left with the TARDIS, because I set it to self destruct after I called up the exit clause and all of its conditions. It won't be hard for me to get back home, which is a blessing."

Sam took Ben's wrist in his hand, and Ben recoiled. "They're... they're bruised, Sam."

Sam looked at him in shock. "Who hurt you?"

"I'd rather not say."

Sam just shook his head. "How do you expect me to let you leave? To get over you?"

Ben smiled, but there was no warmth in his smile, just acceptance. "Once I leave, I'm erased from this timeline. Of course, the memories will still be there, deeply embedded in your minds, but you won't be able to access them like normal memories. I'll be hidden inside of your heads. If you happen to remember me, a Charged Vacuum Emboitment will open up, getting you closer to me. The Doctor can help you get to me. That is, assuming, that you ever do remember me."

"How could I forget you? How could any of us forget?"

"I don't think you get it, Sam – I'm going to be erased. No record of me ever having been here. You'll all forget."

"Don't do this... don't go. Please."

"If we're meant to be," Ben said softly, "you'll remember me. If not, I'll just move on with my life."

"You can't say that you don't want this to happen."

"You can't say that you think this was real."

"It's been more real than anything else I've ever known."

"Well it was fake, okay?" Ben became exasperated. "The Wolf made you feel anything it was that you felt. It created emotions in your heart through hormones and pheromones. It was all a show. I... the person that I was, was just gaudy and made up. And you all fell in love with it. At least, you thought you fell in love, because you don't really know how love feels. None of us do – we're sixteen, for goodness sakes!"

Everyone just stared at him. He looked at Sam, looked him straight in the eyes. "You deserve someone better than me. You deserve someone who won't be weak, who won't... won't desert you, someone who's faithful and stable. That's not me."

I've got nothing keeping me here  
I've wasted all the love that I hold dear

"I need to go home, before I end up destroying all of you. Canon has to catch up with fiction sometimes. Fake life is only good enough for so long."

He walked over to the centre of the choir room. Pulling his suitcases in tightly, a tear ran down his cheek.

"You don't have to... please don't go," Sam begged, for the last time.

Ben just opened his mouth slightly, and began to sing.

_I'm coming home,  
I'm coming home,  
tell the world that I'm coming home_

A wind swirled around him.

_Let the rain wash away  
all the pain of yesterday_

His suitcases began to swirl and collapse into atoms, forming a circle around him.

_I know my kingdom awaits  
and they've forgiven my mistakes_

His body was disappearing, until all that was left was his head.

_I'm coming home  
I'm coming home_

All that was left visible was his lips.

_Tell the world that I'm coming..._

I'll throw a dart: LA  
The Wolf has run away

As soon as the swirl disappeared, everyone blinked, as if waking up from a dream. Sam walked back to his seat dazed, unsure of why he'd stood up in the first place.

Mr. Schuester noticed a piece of paper floating around, and caught it. He put it in his pocket, saving it for a better time. "Who... who were we waiting for again?"

"Lauren," Puck replied. "She's not here yet."

"Well, we're just going to have to start without her," Rachel said. As she began her rant about the solos she was going to be performing for Regionals, Mr. Schue reached his hand into his pocket and unfolded the piece of paper. Confused, he noticed that it was just one short sentence. Unsure of who it could have been addressed to, or why it was floating around his choir room, he simply put it on the piano. He pondered on it for the rest of the class, thinking about the relationships and pairings they'd had over the last two years.

The note itself, however, seemed to disappear after a few minutes, and Mr. Schue focused again on the task at hand, Regionals.

Nobody would ever remember what it said, and maybe that was a good thing.

_I'll never stop loving you._


	31. Sam's Fun Hazy Memory Flashes

The haze of memory when you almost remember something, but it's still slipping away, is always annoying. For Sam, it was particularly painful, because even though usually what you can't remember can be shrugged off as not important, Sam knew that whatever it was he had forgotten was definitely something he needed to know.

* * *

**The Sue Sylvester Shuffle**

The moment Puck had started to strum his guitar; Sam had just stared and tried to place the song. He remembered someone singing it sweetly, and softly –

"_it's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now"_

And the worst part was that he couldn't remember who it was who had sung it.

**Silly Love Songs**

He knew that Quinn had cheated on him. It was painfully obvious. As they had taken themselves off to the nurse, he felt it again. He heard someone telling him something. Someone he knew he needed to listen to. His memory tuned to flashback for a moment.

_They're in the choir room, and he's standing looking at a boy about his age, dressed entirely in black. "You deserve someone better than me," the boy says. "You deserve someone who won't be weak, who won't... who won't desert you, someone who's faithful and stable."_

He realises the truth in the statement – he knows what he deserves. He just wishes he knew who that boy was.

**Comeback**

The moment he'd put the hoodie on, he'd had a short memory flash.

_He's walking into the choir room, with Finn, and there's that same teen there again. He can register that there's a huge grin on his face, and the teen looks suspicious. "What are you two so happy about?" he asks, and then looks at what Sam is wearing – the same hoodie. "I mean, c'mon, Sam, a Bieber hoodie? That prompts tears, not laughter." He laughs at this teen's antics._

Snapping back into the present, he got ready to perform.

It was harder the next time – he was on stage. He was singing to try to win Quinn back (even though he hadn't really lost her yet). He'd been singing 'Somebody to Love' by the god of all rock stars, Justin Bieber, when he'd had another memory flash.

_Somehow this one seemed earlier than the last. He was on the telephone, talking to someone who obviously meant something to him. "I like you. I like you a lot," he hears himself say._

"_Sam, you're sweet. But you're not really real. Once I'm safe again I'll probably have to go home. Besides, I'm not really looking for some kind of fling – right now I just need somebody to love."_

_After what he could tell were a few moments of introspection, he heard himself respond "I could... I could be that somebody."_

Crap. He really needed to figure this out.

**Blame it on the Alcohol**

When Rachel and Blaine were singing their duet, his mind was flashing back. He figured the alcohol was preventing him from remembering it clearly, but he certainly knew that two people had sung that same song in a duet in the choir room, not too long ago. Shrugging it off, he went back to making out with Santana, drowning himself in her lips.

**Sexy**

The moment Miss. Holiday had said that every intimate moment starts with a touch, Sam's mind was racing. He was thinking back to something that had happened not too long ago, he was certain. It was much hazier than the rest of his memories, but he could tell that this one was just as important, if even more. It felt like one of the more recent ones.

_The same teenager, a boy, definitely someone who means something emotionally to him... maybe someone he loves... looks at him. And giggles. "I think that was the best first date I've ever had, bar none," he tells the blushing boy._

"_Me too," said boy replies, reaching out a hand. Sam takes it. It's warm, and inviting._

A date? How did he forget... what was... a moment later, he was on his feet dancing, all thoughts of dates forgotten.

**Original Song**

When it happens again, Sam knows that he can't just shrug off the memories – he'll have to try to remember. When Santana starts singing 'Trouty Mouth', he remembers something.

_He's with that teen again, and it's before the last memory. They're at a large monument, sitting on a picnic blanket, and Sam's got his arm around the boy, holding him close to his body. The boy points to the statue – it's of a man with his sword raised. "That statue," he explains, "is dedicated to the warriors in the First Galactic War, who fought for the right for humans to mate and marry sentient members of different species."_

"_Why did you bring me here?" Sam asks._

"_Just think – if there's a point in the future where humans get the right to be with aliens who they love, how far away do you think it is for people who are of the same sex to get married?"_

_Sam smiles nervously. Did this mean that that boy was proposing marriage? "You're not suggesting that we elope, are you?"_

"_No. I just thought you might find hope that one day, if we think we should be married, we can."_

_They hold each other tighter. "That is, if you'd want to marry me," Sam replies._

"_Why wouldn't I?" the boy asks, laughing._

"_Well, for starters, there is this pair of sardines on my mouth. You won't even kiss them, so..."_

"_Don't be silly, Sam," the boy chastises. "Your lips are cute. I would kiss you, if I could. Hell, I'd write a song about your lips and sing it from the rooftops of McKinley if you wanted me to, but I know your lips are a thing for you."_

_Sam smiles, because this boy manages to make his insecurities seem so stupid. Finally, there's someone who loves him for the dorky, fat-lipped science nerd that he is._

He shakes his head, and Santana interprets that to be about the song, so he just goes with it. Besides, he doesn't really want anyone even thinking about how big his lips are, so he certainly doesn't want them singing a song about it.

* * *

Sam then does something very desperate and very out of character at the glee party to celebrate winning Regionals. But until Ben finds out about it, that much is to be a mystery.


	32. Voice Overs Of The Inordinately Bored

Settled back into his routine, depressed after watching a new episode of Glee (only to find that the one person he thinks he's ever truly loved still has no idea who he is), the last thing Ben Spencer expected to find on his email client was a message from someone called 'Crystal Guardian'. And yet, sitting in a computing class that he could have passed with his eyes closed (and sometimes did, just for kicks), he found just that.

He'd received emails from all kinds of people: the Prime Minister, the Today Show, A Current Affair, Ellen Degeneres – even Oprah wanted him on her couch. He'd seen neither hide nor hair of any of the Guardians for about three months, so he was definitely surprised.

Opening the e-mail, he saw only a few simple words:

_Watch this if you want your life to change forever. I've seen your dreams – you know you want to._

There was a link below, to a website called . He clicked on the link, and saw a video screen pop up. Surprised, but still infinitely collected, he rushed to the front of the classroom and opened the same webpage on the computer connected to the projector. Ignoring the complaints of his teacher (and the fact that his classmates were all readying their camera phones), he pressed the play button at the centre of the video box.

And was surprised, to say the least.

* * *

So here's what you missed on Glee. Although, seeing as it's probably been big news, it's probably a good idea to assume you know what's been going on. This boy called Ben showed up randomly from another universe, and ended up holding two transcendental beings, and he and Sam fell in love with each other, but now Sam can't remember him because nobody can because he erased himself from this universe. Oh and he also threw himself into a relationship with Santana after breaking up with Quinn because she cheated on him with Finn but she's still in love with Brittany but Brittany is still with Artie. And even while all that was going on, they still managed to beat Kurt and the Warblers and _"the not at all stupidly named"_ Aural Intensity at Regionals, so now they're going to Nationals. And that's what you missed on GLEE.

"_I've just gotten a little bit despondent," _Ben's voiceover tells over the oh-so-lovely vision of him stuffing chocolate cake down his throat, sitting splayed out on his couch with rain pouring outside, a totally bored look on his face and non-descript music blaring in the background.

"_I mean, I did do the whole crying and screaming thing at first."_

The scene changes suddenly, and we see him sitting on the same couch, watching 'The Sue Sylvester Shuffle', when suddenly Finn's face appears on the screen. He picks up a conch shell that was sitting on his coffee table and throws it at the expensive plasma screen television at the front of his lounge room. "I HATE YOU!" he screams, and then curls himself into a ball, sobbing on the couch. "Sam Sam Sam Sam Sam..."

"_I've tried hanging out with my friends, but, this just kept up happening..."_

The scene changes again, and this time he's sitting on someone's bed with his face buried in his iPhone, playing Tiny Wings, whilst a guy and a girl are making out behind him. Another pair is getting more physical on a mattress next to him. A girl runs into the bedroom without a top on, chased by a guy with no top on, who tackles her to the ground and smothers her with kisses. He presses the home button on his phone, a totally blank expression on his face and selects 'Mum' from his favourites. He presses the phone to his ear.

"Hi. Can you bring the car? This was probably not the best idea." A squeal can be heard from behind him. He turns around, shaking his head at the couple behind him. "Enjoy, dear. He's only going to cheat on you with her," he blindly points to another girl in the room, "like he did two weeks ago in the back of her sister's Hummer." The girl gives him a shocked look, like he should have cared more. He shrugs. "Don't look at me like that. I'm just saving you from unnecessary heartache." Putting the phone back to his ear he says "Please hurry."

"_And then I decided to try exercising the pain away, and that was kind of fun, but it's gotten old now and my joints hurt a little."_

It's suddenly become morning, and walking downstairs to the gym he had in his house, Ben had his iPod ready to go. He turned on the lights, started the air conditioner, and powered up the treadmill. He placed the iPod in a set of speakers, and made the music blast.

Running along on the treadmill, he started the music. He let the music overtaking, dancing along, but not singing. _"Something inside of me hasn't let me sing since I left McKinley. I don't know if I'll ever want to sing again."_

_I'm sure my critics will say it's a grotesque display  
Well they can bite me baby I perform this way  
I might be wearing Swiss cheese  
Or maybe covered in beans  
It doesn't mean I'm crazy I perform this way_

_Ooo, my little monsters pay... lots 'cause I perform this way  
Baby, I perform this way  
Ooo, don't worry, I'm okay... hey, I just perform this way  
I'm not crazy, I perform this way_

_I'll be a troll or evil queen  
I'll be a human jelly bean  
'Cause every day is Halloween  
for me..._

He laughed and continued to run. The next morning, however, we see a short woman who looks remarkably like him walk into his bedroom and shake him, and a small dog jumps into the bed. "C'mon, Ben, time to get up."

"Not. Happening. In. A. Million. Years."

"_Then there was always that week I spent mastering the considerable skills I already had with a blade. They certainly came in handy."_

We're presented with Ben's front door, and he opens it, wearing the same sunglasses he was wearing to hide his eyes when he had the wolf still in him. He's wearing a long cloak. He walks towards his front gate – it's a swarm of paparazzi outside. They're all snapping photographs, trying to catch a glimpse of him. Questions are being fired at him back and forth, and he doesn't even bother trying to answer them.

Once he's outside the gate, in the middle of the throng of photographers and journalists, surrounded by microphones and cameras, he unsheathes a red-handled katana from inside his coat and brandishes it threateningly, swiping it back and forth with a degree of fluidity and grace, whilst laughing maniacally – the entire group of people trying to take pictures of him ran for their lives. Satisfied, he walked back into the house.

"_Now, I'm just ridiculously bored. It's getting kind of old."_

We see him again, still stuffing his mouth with cake. The telephone rings, and he answers. "Hi. You're out shopping?" Pause. "Yes. Okay, I want two... three packets of marshmallows, about two dozen Crème Eggs, a couple of big blocks of Dairy Milk, a few more bottles of Soda Water... a couple of big packets of Twisties Zig-Zags. The Cheddar ones. Also, can you get some cheese stringers? And... um... no, that should be good for an afternoon snack." _"Thankfully, I've discovered that my stomach is pretty much a bottomless pit."_

He finishes the cake, and looks upset when he notices that his plate is once again empty. He walks over to a large chocolate cake and cuts a huge piece for himself, and takes his place back on the couch, resuming his face-stuffing.

"_The press now refuse to talk to me since that katana incident, which is a plus, because they're a pack of insensible, muttering scare-spreaders. I'm honestly not interested. However, I'm inordinately bored. It was ridiculous before, but now it's just inordinate."_

He lets out a large sigh before continuing to eat the cake like a mongrel.

The screen becomes black, and the word 'glee' is visible in white.


	33. Once Upon a December

The glee club was definitely on a high. They'd totally clinched Regionals, and none of them really cared that Rachel had gotten the solo (all that much). She pulled it off without a hitch, and they were all sure that without her, they probably wouldn't have won.

Sam's mind, however, was elsewhere. It was blatantly obvious that his girlfriend was in love with her best friend (a bit of a shot to his pride, but love was love). He knew that he couldn't remember something – more like someone – and it was gnawing away at his resolve. His resolve to do what, well that wasn't actually clear. But his resolve in general was wearing away.

Finn had volunteered to have a celebration at his and Kurt's place, and Sam had agreed to go, because he really enjoyed being in Glee club. He liked the unity of it. Of course, it hadn't been the same since Kurt had left – the whole group had become a bit more 'every man for himself'. Rachel was getting all of the solos, and if anyone did a performance, they weren't doing it because they were a part of the group. They did it because they wanted to impress a person who caught their fancy (although he couldn't really complain about that. He'd done it himself).

It was getting a bit suffocating, though. Everyone was laughing and yelling, and Puck had managed to sneak in some booze, so Brittany and Santana were getting far too close to comfort. Artie looked at him, practically screaming 'What can you do?' and he shrugged in response. He looked around, pretty bored.

He figured he might explore the new Hudmel residence – he hadn't had a chance to see their new place. It probably wasn't right to be snooping around, but he wasn't going to steal anything, and if nobody caught him, he'd be fine. Maybe he'd find a DVD somewhere, or a really cool secret room in a library or something. Knowing Kurt, that was probably more than likely.

Sam walked upstairs, and started opening doors. The thought only just occurred to him that he'd not seen Kurt around when he opened a door and found Kurt, in his pyjamas, catching up on what appeared to be the latest _Vogue_.

"Sam? What are you doing in here?" he shrieked, sitting up on the edge of his bed suddenly.

"Relax, Kurt. I was just exploring." Kurt's eyebrows shot up in perfect synchronisation. "It's stuffy down there."

"You should be celebrating! You won Regionals, remember?"

He winced involuntarily at the word. _Remember._ That was the one thing he was really having trouble with.

Kurt seemed to notice. "Hey, Mr. Spaceman? Back to Earth again, okay?" He moved over and rubbed Sam's back. Granted, he was a little bit unsure of whether Sam would be okay with being a little touchy feely, but the boy looked so adorable and innocent and _sad_ that he couldn't help himself. Thankfully, Sam did seem to be comforted, rather than disgusted.

"Sorry. I kind of zoned out." He pouted just a little bit, and Kurt pulled him a bit closer, because he seemed so sweet.

Sam looked up into Kurt's eyes… maybe it wasn't a memory he couldn't handle? Maybe it was a possibility. That boy in his… memories… seemed a lot like Kurt. Perhaps his brain was trying to tell him something.

"Do you ever wonder what it would have been? Our duet, I mean."

Kurt paused for a moment, pondering. "I think it actually might have been quite nice. You've got a good voice in that throat of yours, Sam Evans. And a pair of lips that just make it all purry. Add the bottle blonde hair, and you're like a kitty cat!"

Sam narrowed his eyes. "I'm serious, Kurt." He knew Kurt didn't know anything about his insecurities, but the jibe about his lips didn't bode well.

"I know. I was telling the truth, Sam. It would have been nice."

Sam wondered if maybe he might tell Kurt what was going on. He would have understood.

"So what, exactly, is making you so confused and upset?"

"I never said I was -," Sam cut himself off. Kurt was all but holding him to make sure he didn't fall apart. It was pretty obvious what he was. "Okay, I'm a little bit confused."

"Sure. A little bit." Kurt knew it was pointless trying to cut the sarcasm, and he never really tried it. That was just how things came out of his mouth. "Want to tell me what's wrong, maybe?"

"Have you ever had that feeling where you just know there's something you should remember but you just can't?" Sam blurted out suddenly.

"Of course I have, Sam. Everyone has."

"I…" he hadn't really told anyone about what was going on, preferring to pretend it wasn't real by not telling anyone. "I think I fell in love, but I can't remember the guy I fell in love with."

"Okay. Wait, the guy?" This time, only one of Kurt's eyebrows went up, the other preferring simply to stay down saying 'I told you so'.

"Yeah. It confused me, too, at first. But then I realised that he had to be someone I fell in love with," Sam said. "He meant too much, in the flashes of memory that I had, to just be some guy I forgot."

"So… you're gay?"

"I don't know. I…" some things were starting to make sense, now. The way he felt about Kurt leaving, for example. It was probably a case of good old infatuation. "I still think girls are hot, but I also think some guys, who are kind of girlish… they're kind of cute." Kurt frowned. "If I told you I kind of had a bit of a thing for you, would you get offended?"

"Overstuffed teddy-kitty boys who pretty much fall apart on your bed and are okay with touchy feely? Kind of cute."

Sam smiled.

"But," Kurt butted, and Sam knew that was on the horizon, "You fell in love with that guy, right?"

"Yeah," Sam said confidently. "I did."

"So," Kurt told him, letting him go so quickly that he fell back onto the bed with an 'oompfh', "We find a way to help you remember."

"Kurt, you don't have to – "

"I don't have to do anything. I want to help you, Sam. I have a boyfriend now – I can't just go around thinking boys are adorable. We need to make you less cute."

Sam laughed, and Kurt rummaged through his bag. He pulled out his iPhone, and plugged it into his speakers. Scrolling down the list of albums, he found the one he wanted fairly quickly. "When I was younger, my mom made me watch this movie musical you've probably never heard of. It being a musical, and a fairly simple kid's romance plot, I fell in love with it. There's a song in it, which I always used to sing whenever I couldn't remember something. Sure, it distracted me a little, but I always managed to remember a bit better afterwards."

Sam pointed his pointers towards himself. "Lay it on me." Kurt nodded and started the music. Sam found it familiar, and then knew that he knew it. "I know this song. Definitely," he told Kurt. He sang along when it started, unconsciously rising and dancing around slowly.

_Dancing bears, Painted wings  
Things I almost remember  
And a song, someone sings  
Once upon a December_

The song got more intense, and Sam closed his eyes, still singing and dancing along.

_Someone holds me safe and warm  
Horses prance through a silver storm  
Figures dancing gracefully  
Across my memory_

The instrumental interval began, and Sam stopped moving. His eyes shot open, and he had another memory flash, this one far more intense and vivid than the rest.

_It was like he was back in that moment. Like in the movie, when Anastasia imagined that she was dancing with a prince at the ball, or what it had been. It was like his clothes changed, and he was actually holding onto Ben… that was his name! Ben! Ben Spencer. He looked into Ben's eyes lovingly, and realised that this wasn't just a baseless hallucination. He had, at some stage, danced with Ben when they had been travelling. He remembered that much. But he couldn't quite recall where they were. "I think the Prince has realised that I've got a significant other," Ben told him, and he remembered where they were. Ben had just flirted their way into a ball in the court of one of the Princes of Denmark in the 1800's. He couldn't exactly remember which of the princes it was, but that was all part of the fun._

_He felt a hand on his shoulder, and another person asked, "Might I cut in?" It took him a moment to realise that_ this was actually happening in real life. Kurt roused him from his daze, and he lost his grip on the memory. "What did you see?"

"I can't believe that we couldn't remember him!" Sam said, grabbing Kurt's arms excitedly.

A moment later, the words of the song began to play as the interval ended.

_Someone holds me safe and warm  
Horses prance through a silver storm_

They were sung with far more emotion than Sam remembered, and the voice was different from the one that he knew was the one of the actress who provided Anastasia's singing voice. It was familiar. "Sam," Kurt said, trying to get his attention.

_Figures dancing gracefully  
Across my memory_

"Sam," Kurt said, insistently. Sam just ignored him and listened.

_Far away, long ago  
Glowing dim as an ember  
Things your heart used to know  
Things it yearns to remember_

Sam's eyebrows furrowed. The words were different. It hadn't been 'your heart'; it had been 'my heart', right? He turned to look at Kurt, who had given up trying to get his attention. He knew now that something was wrong.

_And a song, someone sings  
Once upon a dece-eh-mber_

The song ended, and Kurt walked over to the iPhone, turning it off. He looked at Sam pointedly. "What?" asked Sam, after a moment of silence.

"Sam," Kurt said gently, walking over and putting his hand on Sam's arm placatingly. "That was an instrumental."


	34. Violent Staff Meeting

Sam Evans was never one for making speeches, but when something needed to be said, he could do it. This, definitely, was something that needed to be said. He and Kurt, after discussing what to say to the rest of the group, made their way downstairs.

The party was getting into full swing, and everyone was getting rowdy. All of the members of the glee club were tangled up into a mess with each other, and they all cheered when they noticed Kurt.

"Hey, Kurtie," Santana said, jumping over to pull him into a hug. "How's gay Hogwarts?"

"Stuffy and depressing," he said quickly, "but Blaine's there, so I guess it's okay."

"Blaine? You like him better than all of us?" she sobbed. Kurt had forgotten that she was a weepy drunk.

"Well, sweetie, he is my boyfriend."

"Oh… yeah… I guess." She scrambled off, defeated.

Kurt turned to Sam, eyebrows raised. "You dated her?"

"She's hot, okay?" he defended. "Besides, I didn't know I had someone better waiting for me."

"That's right you did. Now go get him," Kurt said, shoving Sam gently towards the mess of writhing bodies.

Sam cleared his throat, loudly. Apparently, not loudly enough, seeing as nobody seemed to bother paying attention. "Hey, guys." Still no response. "GUYS!" A few heads turned. "IF YOU DON'T LISTEN TO ME RIGHT NOW, SOMETHING REALLY BAD'S GOING TO HAPPEN!" They all turned to listen to him. "Good. Now, I have something important that you all need to hear."

Everyone was engaged in listening to what he ways saying now – there was no chance they were going to ignore him. "We've all forgotten something. Something we should never have forgotten." The entire club was confused. Sam sighed, and drew in a breath. "Before I got together with Santana, I fell in love." Quinn furrowed her eyebrows at him, and he shook his head. "I fell in love with the most amazing person in the universe – and trust me, we got around.

"Together, we saw some amazing things. We went to a star waterfall on a galaxy years and years into the past, and a supernova years and years into the future. We went shopping; we went dancing, and so much more – all in the course of twenty minutes. The worst part is, that it was all amazing – and I forgot every moment of it. I forgot all the love, and all the happiness, and every goofy smile that we shared together."

Some of the members of the glee club looked like they were in the middle of remembering something. Finn noticed that Kurt was glaring at him slightly, and a foggy little glimmer inside of his memory began to assert itself. He was remembering something that he'd done. Something he had hoped he could forget, so he wasn't sure that he wanted to remember. As much as he was thinking that he should back away from these memories, he knew they were troubling Sam, so he made the effort to remember. After all, this girl that he had fallen in love with sounded pretty wonderful, so why should he try to forget her?

Him.

Him?

It was becoming clearer, now. "Him," he said aloud, without realizing it. Sam nodded.

"What do you mean, him?" Quinn asked, confused.

"No way. Dude, you're gay?" Puck asked, with a dopey expression on his face. He seemed subdued, probably because of the alcohol in his system.

"I'm not… I… maybe… no. I think I can just appreciate people for who they are on the inside, not really mind who they are on the outside. I think there's a word for it, but I don't really care."

"So who's the mystery guy?" Mercedes asked, unable to remember who it was that had captured Sam's heart.

"What do you mean, mystery guy?" Brittany asked. "Are you talking about Ben?"

Everyone gaped at her and nodded. Some of them because they were only just remembering what they had forgotten.

"You forgot about him? I wondered where he went. It was really weird the way he left – like a big tornado thing. I didn't say anything because nobody really seemed to care." Santana slid her arm around her shoulders and just nodded at her sympathetically.

In the meantime, Finn had begun to make his way upstairs, sneaking away from the ruckus of his living room. He remembered (in detail) what had happened, and to say that he wasn't proud of it wasn't an understatement. The idea that he'd have to face it, and an angry boyfriend, ensured that it was definitely not on the top of his to do list. Kurt, however, had noticed. "Where do you think you're going, Finn?" he asked calmly, but with an air of accusation in his voice.

"I need to look for something… upstairs." Sam decided he was going to be the one to raise the eyebrow this time. "It's important. It can't wait."

"I think it can, Finn." Kurt said gently.

"I don't want to talk about it," Finn said suddenly, and the way he said it was far too guilty to be anything near innocent.

"We need to talk about it," Kurt said, and looked at Sam, almost saying 'take it easy, he's stressed'. Sam nodded. "It was going to come out at some point or another, and you need to tell Sam what happened."

"I'm not telling him – you tell him."

"Finn, I'm your brother, not some fairy godfather who's here to wave a magic wand over your life and solve your problems. Things are going to get hairy, and you need to get through it."

"I'm not telling him, Kurt! Would you want to?"

"Tell me what?" Sam asked.

Finn continued, ignoring what Sam had said. "Would you want to tell the love of someone you hurt what you had done to them? The things you said… the things you did?"

"You hurt him?" Sam's voice was raising. He was getting angry.

"I hit him, and kicked him, and bit him, and punched him when he was on the ground and **begging** me not to. Asking me kindly, not to beat him. And do you know why?"

Sam just looked stunned. "W-W-Why?"

"Because I kissed him. Because I was made to fall in love with him and it wasn't even his fault! I beat him and broke his spirit because I was upset with myself, and now he's gone." The silence was deafening. "He's gone, and it's all my fault!"

There was only a slight pause, and then it started.

Sam lunged at Finn, hitting him in the face so hard it was sure to leave a mark. He whacked him in the stomach, and kneed him in the privates. "IS THIS WHAT YOU DID TO HIM? HEY? IS THIS WHAT YOU DID? BECAUSE YOU DESERVE IT MORE THAN HIM!" It took the rest of the club a whole two minutes to pull Sam off of Finn. Finn just stood there and took it, because in his heart, he knew he deserved it. It wasn't absolution, it wasn't forgiveness of any kind, but he almost felt better for knowing that someone had Ben's back.

He knew how to obtain justice, though, and he was going to help. "I know…" he wheezed, as the screaming settled down.

"What do you know, huh?" Sam yelled. The rest of the club tried to placate him.

"I know how to get him back."

That shut him up. After a moment, Kurt moved over to rub Finn's back. "How do we do it, Finn? Hey?"

"Do you remember… do you remember the washing?"

"The washing?" Kurt's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He could definitely remember something about washing, but his brain had filed it away as not important. It was coming back, though.

_Kurt is down in the laundry, running a load (mostly of Finn's clothing that he'd scattered all over the ground). Ben bounces down the stairs, looking a bit down. It didn't strike him as odd at the time that he was wearing sunglasses, although in reflection, it probably should have._

"_Hey, Kurt? Can you wash these pants for me?"_

"_Sure, Ben." He took the offered article of clothing, and Ben walked back up the stairs._

_Automatically reaching in the pockets to check for loose change or other random items (he did do Finn Hudson's washing, after all) and found a strip of paper with a phone number on it. "Ben!" he called, but got no response._

_The next morning, he had given the strip of paper to Finn with strict instructions to return it to Ben at school._

"Yeah, the phone number? Why?"

"That was the Doctor's number."

Sam suddenly looked hopeful. "Where's that piece of paper?"

Finn grinned. "Not so fast. I'm getting a promise from you first."


	35. The Lonely Space Station Attendant

To say that Sam Evans was brave might have been overstepping the mark a little bit. Sure, he wouldn't be averse to stepping up and defending those who had a right to defense, or those he cared about, but he's no hero. When the Doctor had told him that the only person who could help him get back his boyfriend was on the other side of the TARDIS doors, he almost ran out the door – but he was stopped by a warning. "Be careful," the Doctor said enigmatically. "The Keeper's pretty defensive. And unpredictable." Sam nodded, figuring that he could handle anything if it meant a pathway to Ben's universe.

He opened the door and walked outside – and within moments, saw it pulled shut behind him. Turning away from the door, he instantly was met with the vision of a face only an inch away from his, and felt a cold, blunt object pressed to the underside of his chin. It was the side of a sword, and with a jerk of his eyes he noticed a red hilt to the cold blade.

He looked back to the face.

"Who do you work for?"

This was going to be difficult.

* * *

Kurt was talking to Amy, at the central console. "So, what's it like travelling with him?"

"It's wonderful. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before. I waited so long to see him again, and we've seen some wonderful things."

"Ben and I went on a huge shopping adventure. All around the universe, past and future. It was mostly to say goodbye. I knew he was leaving, because he told me he wanted a new wardrobe to match his eyes. Nobody buys a new wardrobe for their eyes **just because**."

Amy gave a sad smile. Kurt suddenly felt a tapping on his shoulder. He turned around, and saw Finn looking down at him. His eyes were a bit red around the rims and he had obviously been crying recently. "Kurt?" he asked sheepishly.

Kurt didn't really feel sorry for him, but he almost melted when he saw his brother that beat up. He had a walloping bruise on his left eye where Sam had hit him, and his hair was ruffled and untidy. "Yes, Finn?" He was aiming for not intimidating, but not sweet either.

"I need your help with something." Kurt sighed.

This was going to be difficult.

* * *

The blade was still firmly against Sam's chin, and he was staring the person he could only assume was the Axis Keeper right in the eyes. The Keeper was a man who looked middle aged, not thin, but not round either. He seemed to have kept his body in good shape. He had a splattering of stubble, but that looked deliberate, and suited him. He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the Keeper from somewhere.

"Nobody sent me. I'm here to find my boyfriend."

"You're lying," the Keeper shot back. "You're a fake."

"A fake what?" He'd never even said who he was.

"Don't play dumb. You're a fake Sam Evans. Your hair is even dyed unconvincingly, and your lips aren't the right size. They're too big to be his lips."

Sam considered putting a hand to his lips for less than a moment – he abandoned the idea when he realized that it would probably result in the slitting of his throat. Maybe he was a bit brave, but not like this. How was he going to figure this out? He said the first thing that came to his mind. "My lips aren't that big!"

The Keeper just narrowed his eyes. "Tell me who you really are." For a moment, what was almost recognition flashed across his face, but Sam ignored any kind of hope of that being the case.

"I told you, I'm Sam Evans."

"Yeah, and I'm under 40," the Keeper said sarcastically.

Sam made an effort to look confused. The Keeper couldn't have been older than 35, and yet he was claiming to be over 40? "If you're older than 40, how old are you?"

"It's very rude to be asking someone their age."

"That rule only applies to ladies," Sam shot back.

"What's the point of curing the physical aging process if you go around telling people how old you are? It totally removes the mystery of the process." Whilst the Keeper continued to supply his endless stream of dry wit, Sam noticed that his grip on the sword hadn't faltered, even a little. He was still stuck.

"How can I prove to you that I'm the genuine article?"

"You can't, and I doubt you will. But, I've got time, so you might as well tell me your story."

So that's what Sam did. He told the Keeper of the Axis (who, he noticed eventually, was dressed very smartly for his age) most of his story – the gist of it. He did elaborate on his feelings, because those were genuine, and might have given him brownie points.

The Keeper, in turn, had simply nodded. After Sam had finished, he slowly removed the blade, instead choosing to stick it firmly into the door of the TARDIS. He smirked. "That'll get his attention. Now, let's get down to business."

* * *

Finn led Kurt down a brassy hallway. They turned into a room full of CD's, records and a large computer terminal. There were all different iPods (current and future) and other musical devices. The walls were adorned with what Kurt could only guess was musical instruments (judging by the handful that were from contemporary Earth). He stopped for a moment and took in the sheer spectacle of the room around him. "What are we doing here?"

"Well," Finn started, and Kurt knew this wasn't going to end well. "Sam promised to let me do my duet with Ben when we found him. To sing with him, to try to apologize. And I figure, seeing as you guys got so close…"

"You mean since we're so similar, right?"

Finn smiled sheepishly. He seemed to be doing everything with a degree of caution. "Yeah. I need you to help me find a duet that's not romantic, necessarily, but helps me express an apology. I found this room when I was wandering around – nobody from New Directions has really wanted to talk to me since we all filed into the TARDIS, and all the Warblers found some kind of creepy replica of that commons room that they have, so I was just exploring." He looked at Kurt, sincerely pleading for his assistance. "Can you help me make things right?"

Kurt sighed. "Singing a duet with Ben isn't going to take back what you did, Finn." Finn looked defeated. "But," Kurt said, trying to infuse some hope into his brother, "it just might be the perfect start."

* * *

The Keeper had led Sam from the all white corridor that they had landed in to a laboratory down the hall. The Axis was a very plain complex, it seemed, and the Keeper was probably it's sole inhabitant. "Is it just you?"

"Yes and no," the Keeper replied, turning his key in the doorknob of an all white door. As they walked in, a short robotic dog wheeled it's way over to them.

"Welcome back, Master –," the dog began, but the Keeper interrupted.

"Keeper. You're to address me formally whilst we have a guest, K-9." Sam sensed that the Keeper was hiding his true identity, but didn't press it. Instead, he leaned down and began to stroke the robotic dog's head.

"You're K-9, are you?" He asked the dog.

The dog's head bobbed up and down in an impressive imitation of a nod. "Affirmative."

"Not a very creative name, was it?" he asked, with a cheeky smile on his face. He turned to look at the Keeper. "You couldn't have named him something that was more personal?"

The Keeper's face was solidly blank and expressionless. "I didn't name K-9. He was left behind in the Axis by accident. When I got here, he was all by himself. I take care of him, and in return he helps me with my experiments."

Sam took a moment to fully appreciate the wonder of the lab he was standing in. There were piles of boxes around the place, all neatly stacked. There was a mountain of gadgetry on one end of the room, and a section filled with test tubes and chemicals on the other. "Now, let's see…" the Keeper ambled around the boxes and storage. "We need something to get you to another universe. You said that a pathway would open if you remembered?"

"Yes," Sam replied. He didn't understand how it worked, but he could appreciate that that was what Ben had tried to explain to him.

"Did he name that pathway?"

"A Charged… Charged Vacuum Embodiment, or something?"

"Charged Vacuum Emboitment," The Keeper corrected him, off-handedly, and then snapped his fingers. "I've got just the thing." He walked over to a section with boxes, opening them all, in search of something very specific, it seemed. When he found what he was looking for, he picked up the box and brought it to one of the chemistry benches. He set it down on the bench and then took a beaker out from one of the shelves underneath it.

The Keeper was rushing around the room, taking chemicals and mixing them together, and Sam was just gaping. He could only recall once before seeing this level of grace and poise and collectedness in a person, but he didn't think they had anything to do with one another.

The Keeper was obviously done, because he added one more chemical (which resulted in a plume of smoke emerging from the beaker, a plume that Sam carefully avoided) to the mixture, and then found a cork lying around and put a stopper in the top of the beaker. He beckoned for Sam to come closer, and see what he was doing.

He opened the box, and Sam realized that it was full of packing chips, like the ones placed in a package to prepare it for delivery in case it was fragile. The Keeper took one out and placed it on the top of the bench. He took the box and put it on the ground. "Now, what we have here is what would seem to be an ordinary packing chip." Sam nodded in agreement. "However, during my 'universe theorization and experimentation' phase, I augmented these packing chips. Using emotional attachment as an anchor, these packing chips can find someone you're looking for, in whatever universe they are, and send off a special signal that we can use the Axis systems to track. Once we find Ben, I can open up a portal for you to slip the TARDIS through, and you can either convince him to come back with you, or stay with him. Once the TARDIS passes through again, the portal will close."

"What's the potion?" Sam asked.

The Keeper narrowed his eyes. "This is no potion, it's a mixture of different chemicals."

"Same, same, but different," Sam replied cheekily.

"This **mixture**, you'll find, is for your boyfriend. Tell him to drink some of it." Sam raised an eyebrow. "It's perfectly safe, I assure you. I think he'd definitely like it."

Sam nodded. "How do I work the packing chip?"

"Hold out your palm," the Keeper instructed, and Sam did as he was told. "Now, close your eyes. Remember when the Doctor tried to get you to communicate with Ben when he was in that coma-type thing?" Unsure of how the Keeper knew about that incident, but still accepting of the help, Sam nervously nodded. "You need to do the same thing. You need to think about everything you like about Ben. Everything that draws you to him. Create a picture of who he is in your mind's eye." He gave Sam a few seconds. "You got it?" Sam nodded. "Good. Now take your other hand, and bring it down quickly on the packing chip. Crush it." Sam smacked his hand down on the packing chip, and it exploded violently in his other hand, in a plume of green dust and mist. The green-ness sucked it in, and with a pop, vanished.

Sam heard a faint beeping noise coming from one of the computer terminals around the lab, and the Keeper rushed to it, typing quickly and hitting buttons. "K-9?"

"Yes, Master?" the robotic dog replied diligently.

"I need you to interface with the main terminals in the computer core. Understand?" K-9 nodded, and made a whirring noise.

"Access. Please state your request."

The Keeper turned back to the computer. "I need you to use the Ribbon Manipulator system to open a one-sided doorway into quadratic subsection Alpha Minor 7, sub-subsection Beta B/C, sub-sub-subsection Gamma 19."

The same whirring noise. "Please state the nature of the object to pass through doorway."

"Type 40 TARDIS."

"Passengers?"

"Yes."

"Please state number of passengers."

The Keeper paused. "Unable to comply."

"Calculations incomplete."

"Can't I just tell you how many people are in the TARDIS right now?" Sam asked.

"No. The Doctor… he's got stuff hidden away in there that I don't even think he knows about. We can't hazard a guess at this if we want to get it right."

"Without passenger figures, the calculations will be wide for error," K-9 informed them.

"Can't you just use the schematics for the size of the craft?"

The canine android pondered this. "This will be adequate. Establishing link."

The Keeper turned back to Sam. "You'd better hurry." He pushed the beaker into Sam's hands. "Get back to the TARDIS, and tell the Doctor you've got a one-sided doorway. Also, Sam, don't try anything hugely romantic. We 'Ben Spencer's get antsy when there's too much drama."

Sam nodded, before taking what the Keeper said in. "We?"

The Keeper smiled, and gave him a slight shove towards the TARDIS. "Go," he said gently, and sighed. "Make a sad, lonely boy's dreams come true." Sam smiled back at him, and raced towards the TARDIS.

The Keeper sighed as the teen sprinted away. He once again wondered if he should go home – wondering about that same question had been a past time he'd picked up over the last century. He'd left home when he was 22. A hundred years had passed, and he'd still not even visited. His family had all died, that was for sure. When he left, he didn't even feel like he was leaving anything behind. He'd been so lonely.

His train of thought was interrupted by a blonde mopped figure racing back into the lab, holding a katana. "He wasn't pleased," Sam said breathlessly. The Keeper took the sword from Sam.

"Go on! Don't waste time!"

Sam hesitated for a moment, and then walked towards him. He leaned over, and gave the Keeper a kiss on the cheek. The Keeper blushed, suddenly remembering what it was like to be young and in love again. "Thank you," Sam told him. "Thanks for everything."

The Keeper nodded.

"Just promise me that someday, you'll find your happy ending." The Keeper nodded again, and Sam ran back to the TARDIS. He smiled at the young man's antics. It was easy to realize how he had fallen in love with the dashing jock when he was 16.

He knew that he'd let the love of his life run out of his arms, like he'd always promised himself he'd not do, but that wasn't his Sam, and he wasn't that Ben. Sighing, he began to pack a bag.

"Why are you packing, Master Ben?" his faithful companion asked, following him around like a dog on a lead.

"Thank you for everything, K-9, but I think it's time you took your job as the Keeper back. I'll be going on an extended vacation."

"Will you be returning?" the Tin Dog asked, eagerly.

"Probably not," a new Ben Spencer replied. "But who knows – there are so many universes out there to choose from. I just might find what I'm looking for."

"What are you looking for, Master Ben?" The robotic dog allowed a slight air of despair to his voice – he was being left alone again.

"A home, K-9. I'm going to find a home."


	36. The Worst Kind of Tally Marks

**A/N: Spoiler alert for The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon. You have been warned.**

The TARDIS heaved and shook as it passed through the doorway, and Sam trembled along with it. He wasn't scared for his life – he knew that the Doctor was a good enough pilot, even if Ben might have been that little bit better. Instead, he was truly worried about Ben's reaction to seeing him. He had decided, after considering his feelings, that what he felt for Ben could only be called love, even if Ben had attested that they were too young to understand the intricacies of their hearts like that.

He turned to Kurt, who had his arm around Blaine and was giggling about something. He remembered when he and Ben were like that – blissful. He knew now why that bliss had to end, and couldn't help but hate Finn for it. He knew that if Ben chose to forgive him, that was that, but he could tell in his heart that he was never going to be truly able to forgive Finn for what he had done.

The fact that his boyfriend had been attacked, violently and mercilessly, for something he had no control over? It made him sick to the stomach. He knew it was a feeling that probably wasn't going to go away over the course of their lives, but he couldn't help but feel it.

Sam walked over and tapped Kurt's shoulder. "Kurt?" he asked, his hand shaking. The more delicate teen nodded, urging him to go on. "What if… what if he doesn't want me back? Or he doesn't like the song?" He started to speak faster. "I mean, I think that was the song he wanted us to sing. He mentioned it, once. It might have been some other duet. What if this is some random song and means nothing? Maybe I should have brought flowers. Something weird and special – does the Doctor have a garden? Or maybe a card, or something like that. I wonder if –"

"SAM!"

The boy in question became very quiet in fear.

"You listen to me – and make sure you listen. It doesn't matter which song you sing with Ben, or sing to Ben, or sing BY Ben. He's going to adore it, because **you're** singing it to **him**. He doesn't need flowers, or a card – by the way, what would you write on this card anyway? '_Sorry your roommate sexually assaulted you, come back to my universe?'_ You can't express what you mean in a card. You need to be there for him. The fact that you've travelled across universes and faced some crazy swordsman just to get to him is enough." Kurt sighed. "You don't need anything but how you feel, Sam. If you love him, he'll know."

Sam began to relax. Kurt was right – Ben was going to be thrilled.

But, he still couldn't push away the voice at the back of his head that was practically screaming – _"What if he isn't?"_

* * *

There was a lot of shoving involved in Ben's journey to his school's auditorium. He had been in class in a computer block on the other side of the school – he raced towards the hall, hands trembling. What was waiting for him?

The footage had cut out when Finn had asked to make a promise – this was after Sam and Kurt had gone downstairs, which was after Ben had sung to the backing of Once Upon a December. At the time, it had felt so natural, and it still felt like it had been the right idea – somehow his voice had made it's way to Sam, who had remembered him.

Sam had remembered!

His gut was telling him to go to the auditorium – and so that's where he went. He knew, knowing the New Directions, that there was probably an elaborate song and dance prepared for him. Perhaps multiple song and dances. Unfortunately, his gut wasn't the only one telling people to go to the auditorium – it seemed like everyone else in the school had had the same idea.

As he raced through the crowd, hauling a giant carry-bag with him, he suddenly stopped. Disoriented, he shook his head. Why had he… his eyes drifted downwards to the underside of his wrist. There was a large line running down it – and a pen in his other hand. He was suddenly aware that his bag was on the floor.

A shiver ran down his spine. It was a lone tally mark.

As everyone else rushed into the auditorium, he waited, and very slowly – very carefully, glanced towards the corner of his eye. He turned, ever so slightly. He was aware of humanoid shapes behind him, and hastily drew another tally mark. This one was on the back of his hand. He turned around with his whole body, and saw them. About a dozen of them, all looking at him. At least, it seemed like they were looking at him. They didn't really have eyes.

The Silence turned their heads to the side, and he drew another tally mark next to the one on the back of his hand. All of the cheer he had just been feeling was replaced by a sense of dread.

"I see you," he affirmed. "I can see exactly who you are."

"_Then you fear us,"_ the voice of one of the Silence replied.

"That's where you're wrong," he said carefully. "I know that anyone who sees you is going to kill you."

"_Why, then, do you not kill us?"_

"Who said anything about not killing you?" he asked bluntly. He raised his hands, as if to fight them with karate or martial arts. He didn't have them balled in fists, however – they were open and loose. He slid the pen into his pocket, after drawing another tally mark on his hand.

"_You believe that you can defeat us unarmed, with only your human hands to defend you?"_ The Silence almost spat it at him, snidely and condescending.

"There you go again, making assumptions." He clapped his hands together, and spread them apart. As he did so, a sleek gun appeared in them, and he held it with both hands. "Who said anything about me being unarmed?"

The Silence roared, and he fired a few blasts. He hit a couple of them, who were knocked to the ground. Ensuring that he didn't look away, he backed up the steps to the auditorium, hitting a few more as they advanced on him. He had picked up his carry bag, and was only using one hand, but his aim was still good. Sighing, he turned away and ran quickly towards the auditorium. He clapped his hands together and the gun disappeared.

Clutching the bag, he ran again. Now, however, he couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't just running towards someone. He was running from something.

Something very bad indeed.


	37. The Elephants Are In Norway

Sam opened the door hesitantly to the TARDIS, and stepped out. He took a second to take stock of his surroundings. Suddenly, the area around him exploded with applause. He realized that he was in an auditorium – and the place was packed. He looked around desperately, trying to see if Ben was around. He couldn't see him anywhere in the crowd.

Sighing, he walked out further, moving towards the center of the stage. The Dalton Academy Warblers filed out of the TARDIS, and when Blaine walked out, the very last, the applause grew even louder.

Huh. So they liked Blaine here. Figures.

Blaine walked over to stand next to Sam, and the Warblers made a grid behind them. They all looked to him to ask if he was ready to start, and he nodded.

The Warblers always managed to amaze him with their ability to replicate techno noises – they made a great backing for him. Swaying gently, they made a surreal beat behind him. He heard them gently begin to sing the parts of the backup singers to the song – Kurt had found some kind of music room, and they'd rehearsed this performance. He wanted to open with a song by himself, before doing a duet with Ben when he (inevitably) won his heart again. They softly sang the beginning of the words.

_The music's no good without you, baby  
The music's no good at all  
The music's no good without you, baby  
Come back to me_

There was more backing before he took the floor by himself.

_Everyone was watching  
You were the freakiest thing on show  
Dazzle in the crystal ball  
They all love to watch it glow  
You were the center of attention  
The eye of the storm  
A whirlwind from outer space  
Like a twister on the scene_

He started to sing the rest, but he noticed another, more powerful voice singing with him.

_The music's no good without you, baby  
The music's no good at all  
The music's no good without you, baby  
Come back to me_

He looked around frantically – that was Ben, he was sure of it. Where was he? He didn't sing the next verse, choosing to use Ben's voice to find him. Instead, he didn't sing anything. The Warblers continued to harmonize for a moment before everything cut off. Sam was looking at all the seats, trying to find Ben. Everyone looked pretty much the same – they were all in uniforms. His eyes moved around the room desperately, but he wasn't anywhere.

The auditorium was completely silent. Nobody was making a noise. Everyone was looking around, trying to see if they could spot Ben anywhere, but everyone who looked at him just let their eyes pass over him.

The voice started soft and quiet.

_The music's no good without you, Sammy  
The music's no good at all  
The music's no good without you baby  
Come back to me_

Blaine echoed his "Come back to me," very softly, and then it was silent again.

Ben stepped forward, into the light of the auditorium, and out of the doorway. "S-S-S…Sam?" he stuttered, a tear rolling down his right cheek slowly.

Sam smiled, nodding furiously.

"I never… I never thought I'd see you again."

"Well… you though wrong." Sam said simply, and Ben nodded.

"For god's sake, just kiss him already!" Santana yelled, but everyone shushed her.

"You look fantastic."

"Thank you. I might feel a bit stuffy in this uniform," Ben said, sweeping his eyes downwards to assess himself, pulling down his jumper and straightening his jacket. "But it gives me the freedom to not have to worry about dressing any time other than the weekend, so I'll survive in the long term."

"I'll bet you've been keeping well."

"Yeah." Ben nodded. "I think I have."

Sam gave him a confused look.

"There is one thing, though. I have the most shocking…" his voice trailed off as he brought his hand in front of his face. "…cuticles."

His eyes widened, and he flipped his hand around to see – there were in all, about 15 tally marks on it, and a long slash mark down his wrist.

"You have GOT to be kidding me." He brought his hand down, and looked back to the stage. Behind the glee clubs were, suddenly, ten of the Silence. All closing in on Sam. Ben's eyes widened, and some people screamed. "Sam, whatever you do, do not turn around."

Sam nodded, gulping. "What is it?" he asked, afraid. "What's behind me?"

"Nothing to be afraid of," Ben said, but obviously didn't believe that. He reached a hand into his pocket, and pulled out a mobile phone calmly. "Everyone in this room needs to remain calm and follow a level seven lockdown. Immediately."

His principal and all the other teachers began ushering people out. Some of the Warblers had turned around, and, frightened, run back into the TARDIS.

Most of them made it.

The entire McKinley glee club, and about half of the Warblers, remained looking resolutely forwards, not daring to glance backwards.

"I need a team of Elephant level combatants in this room immediately. And I need you to cover the perimeter. After the students have left this room, you make sure that nobody gets in or out." He paused. "What do you mean the Elephants are in Norway? I need them here yesterday." He paused again. "Fine, but you owe me a new uniform. The last one got Silent blood all over it and you **know** how hard it is to get that off." He slipped the phone back into his pocket, and clapped his hands together, making a gun. He pointed it at the Silence vaguely. "I borrowed this gun from River. She has the best weapon collection for an imprisoned convict that I've ever come across."

A Silent took Sam into a headlock, but he still didn't turn around. He struggled and gasped for air. _"Would you push us to kill the man that you love?"_

Ben just squared his jaw, and held the gun defiantly. "You made this happen," he said simply. With that, he fired, and hit the Silent straight in the middle of the forehead, knocking it back and killing it instantly.

The rest of the Silence started to attack the rest of the group, and they all ran towards the doors. One of them hit Puck in the leg and he fell, yelling and tumbling to the ground as he neared the top of the auditorium.

Ben made his way nimbly to the front of the hall, shooting whilst somersaulting, spinning and vaulting his way down different levels of seats. He took down two more of the Silence, and as he got to the middle of the stage, found himself surrounded. The remaining seven were in a circle around him. He knew that if he made a move, the rest would pounce on him.

He held the gun, and turned around, seeing Sam at the door to the auditorium. "I love you," he said simply, and shot the gun. One of the Silence came down, dead. Two more began to spread their arms, channeling lightening.

Ben pulled a sword out of his jacket, the gleaming red katana that Sam remembered the Keeper of the Axis keeping him in check with, and began to swipe with one hand elegantly, still holding the gun in the other. He decapitated two more of the silence, and took off a pair of one of their hands, cutting of it's flow of electricity before stabbing it deep in the gut.

He three more of them, and there was only one left. _"You will pay for what you have done today."_

"Yes, that's true," Ben accepted, "but so will the rest of your people. We know you've been looking for me, gathering around this city since I got back."

"_You flatter yourself," _the Silent replied, and they both circled each other like lions waiting to pounce.

"Sure I do. But at least I'll be around to keep flattering myself in the morning." With that, he fired the gun right into the Silent's head, and it toppled to a heap in the ground, dead.

Ben took a look around, surveying the stage. It was littered with ten dead alien bodies, and the dead bodies of two of the Warblers. Ben walked over to them, and placed a hand over their heads. One by one, both of the boys disappeared.

"What did you do?" asked Wes from the top of the auditorium.

"Relax. I saved their lives. The time streams have been messed up, and I'm the pathway between them. I just corrected their futures. Neither of them were ever meant to come here, so I made it that they didn't. They're home now, safe and sound."

Puck groaned in pain, and Ben raced to the top of the auditorium. Sam was holding Puck's leg, trying to stifle the bleeding, but he'd been hit bad. "There's not much I can do for you, however, Puckzilla." Puck chuckled a little, and winced as Ben put his hand over his leg.

"If I tried to do to you what I did to them, there's a good chance I'll just send your leg back and then you'll be one-legged. Some of you guys need to take him outside and find some medics."

They all nodded, and Lauren, accompanied by a couple of the Warblers, carried Puck outside the auditorium.

Ben looked up into Sam's eyes for a moment, and smiled broadly. He looked down for a moment, and groaned. "Silent blood! Yuck!"

"Sorry, can you help me?" Sam asked innocently, and Ben nodded. "I'm looking for your twin brother, you know, the one who isn't an insanely sexy badass alien hunter?"

Ben laughed and held out his hand for Sam to hold. Sam instead put both of his hands at the nape of Ben's neck and pulled him in for a deep, passionate kiss. Some of the people from the glee club gave a quick wolf whistle.

"Yeah. Definitely sexy," he said, when they pulled apart, and Ben blushed, embarrassed. "Now, I made a promise, and I need to keep it."


	38. Just Another Day At The Office

Ben smiled broadly as he walked to his locker. Entwined on his right arm, was his hero, and on his left, the love of his life. Sam and the Doctor had agreed that the three of them needed to talk about the pair's options for the future, and when Ben had said that he needed to get some food and a new uniform (_"this is never going to wash out, boys, and I don't intend on leaving this school drenched in alien blood. Besides, someone's footing the bill for the clothes, and it's certainly not me, so why not spend some green?"_), they'd both agreed to accompany him.

When they arrived at his locker, they both noticed something odd – whilst the rest of the lockers had standard combination locks on them, Ben's simply had a small panel that was rectangular, and clear, but had a black frame around it. Ben crouched down and placed his thumb to the panel – it clicked, and his locker door slowly opened. They both expected a regular locker, as well, but were instead greeted with a flat black panel that covered the entire area. A keyboard popped out, and Ben typed a few things into it. A credit card emerged from one of the many slots on the panel, and some coins. A couple of files came out as well, which he took. He slammed the locker door shut and walked back to them.

"Well, this is new. I have an entourage! I feel so popular." He smiled.

"What are those files?" Sam asked.

"Ah ah ah," he sang teasingly. "We haven't gotten there yet. Now," at this point, he began to walk away from the locker, and both Sam and the Doctor followed. "We have some things to discuss."

"That we do," the Doctor affirmed. "Starting with how it was exactly that you managed to kill all of those Silence."

Ben breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. You know what the Silence are. Not too early days then…" he trailed off for a moment, as if remembering something related. His eyes suddenly began to tear, and he turned and wrapped the Doctor in a big hug.

"Umm…" the Doctor was clearly uncomfortable. "Hugging? Is that… is that necessary? Why are we hugging? Is this a new thing, like a trend, or something?"

"Shut up," Ben said sharply, and Sam placed a hand on his shoulder. He let go of the Doctor, and Sam pulled him into a hug, because he knew he needed it.

"See, he's the one you should be hugging. That's the rules, I think."

"Dear lord, you are clueless," Ben said, wiping his eyes. "You're lucky it's just rather endearing." He sniffled, but continued walking, disentangling himself from his boyfriend. He continued walking as if on a war path, and both Sam and the Doctor scrambled to keep up with him. "I know how to kill those Silence, and I managed to do it unscathed, because of the White Guardian. When it left," he sighed. "It left some of its knowledge with me. Just a smidgen, but enough for me to become a valuable resource for the Earth. So," he paused for a moment, opening the door to the uniform shop, and rushed in, shrugging off his jumper.

He ran over to a mirror, and inspected the damage. "Well the pants are a write off," he concluded, and grabbed a pair off the rack. "But the shirt's held up. I just need a new jumper, and blazer." His eyes rushed down. "The shoes will be fine. A bit scuffed, but I can shine them when I get home if I really want to." Both of his companions looked at each other and shrugged. He raced into the change room.

"Now, what was I saying? Oh yes, an… oomph… sorry, a bit tight in here. Umm… yes, I'm a resource to the Earth. In the first month of being here, I made some money out of interviews, and then I got contacted by a person of authority, and we made a deal." He paused, for a moment, drawing back the curtains to the change room, and walked outside wearing the same outfit as before, but clean. "Better, hmm?" Both the Doctor and Sam nodded obligingly.

Ben walked over to the register, and the lady behind the counter smiled at him. He pulled the credit card from before out of his wallet, which he had moved into the pocket of his new pants (a sign that he'd done it enough times before to be prepared and move his things over) and presented it to her. "Blazer, jumper, and pants."

She nodded. "Altogether, that comes to $600. Which account?"

The Doctor and Sam's mouths fell open, and Ben simply nodded. "Savings please." She put his purchase through, and he handed her the ruined clothing. "Could you do the same with these as the rest?" She nodded, and he smiled. "Thank you." He turned back to the pair, whose mouths were still open and gaping. "C'mon, boys." They both nodded, and followed him out of the store.

"How do you afford replacing clothes like that?" Sam asked. His family wasn't really rolling in money, and he felt a bit nervous – what if his boyfriend expected fancy gifts, or other things that he couldn't give?

"I took it out of petty cash. The institute's got enough put away for my 'ruined clothing budget'." Ben chuckled. "I certainly made sure of that in my contract."

"So who was it that you made a deal with?" The Doctor asked, moving the subject back to what he'd attempted to talk about before. They navigated further back towards Ben's locker.

"Well, you see, I attracted the attention of a lovely woman named Elizabeth. Liz, I think you call her."

The Doctor looked confused for a moment. "Liz, as in, Liz Two?" Ben smiled and nodded in response. "You've been doing direct dealings with the Queen of England?"

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "You just went up, like, a hundred cool points."

Ben laughed. "She's a lovely lady, the Queen. She genuinely cares about the people of the Commonwealth Realms. So, when she found out about my story, she asked for a meeting. Together, we masterminded a worldwide plan to keep the Earth safe from those who would wish to harm it. An agency dedicated to the safety of the human race." Here, he smiled. "We called it, predictably, the Torchwood Institute."

The Doctor smiled. "Torchwood reformed? I like the sound of that, although you'd better promise me that there aren't many guns."

"Well…" he trailed off, and the Doctor gave him a serious look. "We don't shoot anyone who hasn't shot us first. Or at the very least threatened our lives and had the means to make good on that threat."

The Doctor nodded. "You've killed people?" Sam asked.

Ben nodded, and sighed. "Sadly, yes. But I've only ever killed bad people."

"Why do I feel a bit like Jamie Lee Curtis all of a sudden?"

Ben punched him lightly on the shoulder. "You'd better watch yourself. Now, you," and he pointed to the Doctor, "you need to look at these." He gave the Doctor the files he'd retrieved from earlier. The Doctor flipped through them. "Torchwood Three retrieved them last week, and they're unlike anything I've ever seen. Dating puts it at around the time I got back from Sam's universe."

The Doctor seemed perplexed. "What is it?"

"That's why I've asked you. I don't know. Although, Three is in Cardiff, which could explain it."

"What's in Cardiff?" asked Sam. "Better yet… and don't call me stupid for this… but where is Cardiff?"

Ben turned to him softly, and gently replied, "Cardiff is a city in Wales, where there's a transdimensional rift."

"Also, if Cardiff is Torchwood Three, where are the others?"

Ben beamed. "Well, me being the head of Torchwood, Torchwood One is here in Sydney. Torchwood Two is in London, Three is in Cardiff, and Four is in Glasgow. We're establishing Five in Dublin, Six in Toronto, Seven in Mumbai, and Eight in the Fijian Islands. They should all be completed by the end of the year."

"You've really spread out, haven't you?" the Doctor asked, still transfixed by the images that Ben had given him.

"Yep. We're growing fast."

"Hold on a second…" the Doctor looked at the pictures very intently, squinting. "Why are there Silence in your universe? I mean, if we're both part of television shows – "

Sam cut him off. "Television shows? Who's a television show?"

"Later, sweetie," Ben cooed. "Go on, Doctor."

"If we're part of television shows, then the Silence aren't part of your history. What are they doing in your universe?"

"I see your point… unless…"

They both looked up at each other, right in the eyes. "Of course!" The Doctor shouted, excitedly.

"Why didn't we see it before?" Ben asked, disappointed with himself.

"I'm so confused…" Sam said, but went un-noticed.

"The Silence used the Rift to get here, so we're going to need to monitor the Rift far better. I knew there was a reason I needed you."

Sam felt a bit left out at the celebrations, as he still didn't understand what was going on. Suddenly, he looked down at his watch. "Ben, we need to go! We have to get to the auditorium now!"

"Oh, goodness! I forgot about the surprise the glee club had for me. Let's go!"

Sam grabbed Ben's hand and they ran off.


End file.
